BULLETIN 

OF 

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 



NO. 96 

ISSUED SKMl-MONTHLY 



GENERAL SERIES NO. 7 



NOVEMBER 1, 1907 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools 
With and Without Transportation 



BY 



UNA BEDICHEK AND GEORGE T. BASKETT 

Under the Direction of A. CASWELL ELLIS, Associate Professor of the Science and Art of 
Education, The University of Texas. 



SECOND EDITION 

REVISED BY 

A. CASWELL ELLIS 




PUBLISHED BY 
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 



EnUred as second-class mail matter at thepostoffice at Austin, Texas 






PUBLICATIONS 



OF THE 



UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 



BOARD OF EDITORS 

William James Battle, Editor-in-Chief 
Phineas L. Windsor, Secretary and Manager 

Killis Campbell, The University Record 
William Spencer Carter, Galveston, Medical Series 
Lindley M. KeaSbey, Humanistic Series 
Thomas H. Montgomery, Jr., Scientific Series 
Phineas L. Windsor, General Series 

The publications of the University of Texas are issued twice a month. 
For postal purposes they are numbered consecutively as Bulletins with- 
out regard to the arrangement in series. With the exception of the 
Special Numbers any Bulletin will be sent to citizens of Texas free on 
request. Communications from other institutions in reference to ex- 
change of publications should be addressed to the University of Texas 
Library. 

THE UNIVERSITY OP TEXAS MINERAL SURVEY BULLETINS 

1. Texas Petroleum, by W. B. Phillips. 102 p., pi., maps. July, 1900. 

$1. Out of print. 

2. Sulphur, Oil and Quicksilver in Trans-Pecos Texas, with Report of 

Progress for 1901, by W. B. Phillip3. 43 p., pi., map. February, 
1902. 50 cents. Out of print. 

3. Goal, Lignite and Asphalt Rocks, by W. B. Phillips. 137 p., illus., 

pi., maps. May, 1902. $1. Out of print. 

4. The Terlingua Quicksilver Deposits, Brewster County, by B. F. Hill 

and W. B. Phillips. 74 p., illus., pi., map. October, 1902. 50 
cents. Out of print. 

5. The Minerals and Mineral Localities of Texas, by F. W. Simonds. 

104 p. December, 1902. 75 cents. Out of print. 

6. The Mining Laws of Texas; Texas Mineral Lands, by W. B. Phillips, 

and Tables of magnetic declination for Texas. 37 p. July, 1903. 
25 cents. 

7. Report of Progress for 1903, by W. B. Phillips. 14 p., map. January, 

1904. 25 cents. 

8. The Geology of the Shafter Silver Mine District, Presidio County, 

Texas, by J. A. Udden. 60 p., illus., map. June, 1904. 50 cents. 

9. Report of a Reconnaissance in Trans-Pecos Texas North of the Texas 

& Pacific Railway, by G. B. Richardson. 119 p., pi., map. No- 
vember, 1904. 75 cents. 



r 



195-807-4m-1012. 

BULLETIN 

OF 

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 

NO. 96 

ISSUED SEMI-MONTHLY 

GENERAL SERIES NO. 7 NOVEMBER 1, 1907 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools 
With and Without Transportation 

BY 
UNA BEDICHEK AND GEORGE T. BASKETT 

Under the Direction of A. CASWELL ELLIS, Associate Professor of the Science and Art of 
Education, The University of Texas. 



SECOND EDITION 

REVISED BY 

A. CASWELL ELLIS 




PUBLISHED BY 

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 



^Entered as second-class mail matter at the postoffice at Austin, Texas 












V 



THE CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS, 
WITH AND WITHOUT TRANSPORTATION. 



By the Consolidation of Rural Schools is meant the discontinu- 
ance of several small one-teacher schools within a given district 
or neighborhood, and the maintenance instead of one larger 
school, with several teachers, at some point near the center of this 
area. When this central school takes the place of a large number 
of small schools, or when the area ministered to by this one school 
is very large, the pupils from those parts of the district far removed 
from the school house are transported to and from school in wagon- 
ettes at the public expense. The wagonette hire and drivers' 
salaries are paid out of school funds just as are teachers' salaries 
or fuel bills. Experience has shown that this expense can usually 
be met without any increase in appropriation, out of the amount 
saved through the greater economy in running one large central 
school instead of four, five or six scattered little schools. When 
only two or three schools are consolidated and when none of the 
puplis are placed thereby at great distance from the central school, 
free transportation need not be provided. 

This plan of transporting pupils at public expense from out- 
lying districts was first authorized in Massachusetts in 1869, where 
they found that it was cheaper to transport t he pupils in the 
country to the well established village schools than to support even 
a poor grade of separate country school. In other States the rural 
districts which have no central village soon adopted the plan of 
consolidating their own little scattered rural schools, sometimes 
with, sometimes without, transportation. Among the States now 
practising consolidation are Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ver- 
mont, Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 
West Virginia, Forth Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, 
Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Idaho. Kansas, 
Nebraska, and North Dakota. It is practised also in Victoria, 
Australia, with great advantage. In all these states it has proved 
successful and is rapidly spreading. 



4 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

REASONS FOR CONSOLIDATION" OF SCHOOLS. 

The majority of our rural schools are taught by young, in- 
experienced,* and often poorly educated, f and inefficient teachers, 
working in little one-room school houses with practically no library ^ 
maps, charts, or other school equipment. These teachers must 
conduct from twenty-five to thirty-five recitations a clay in all 
subjects, ranging from A, B, C's to Algebra. As a result, our rural 
schools, with a few notable exceptions, are truly wretched. 
Furthermore, with the present poor pay, and with the impossible 
task imposed upon the rural teacher, we can hope for little improve- 
ment in the quality or training of those undertaking this hopeless 
labor. Even if we could have every rural teacher better than the 
few best ones are, the well-nigh complete absence of equipment 
and the endless round of lessons each day necessitated by having 
all grades of pupils under one instructor would paralyze the best 
teacher. If any plan can be found which will even partially obviate 
these difficulties without entailing an expense beyond what the 
present schools cost, or beyond what our people are willing to con- 
tribute for improved schools, it should have our most earnest 
consideration. 

ADVANTAGES OF CONSOLIDATION. 

The experience with consolidation elsewhere has shown that it 
does accomplish the following results: 

M. Better school buildings and equipment can be secured. It 
is cheaper to build and keep up one four or six-room house than 
four or six one-room houses. Experience has shown, too, that the 
community pride in a large, successful school will bring better 
financial suport. 

2. The expense for teachers is less. The most extravagant plan 
possible is to have one teacher teaching children of all ages, often 



*The average length of service of rural teachers in Texas is less than 
4 years of 4| months each, or a total of 18 months. About 3000 new 
teachers are taken into our schools each year. 

fOf the 10,128 white teachers in rural schools in Texas during the year 
1905-1906, 0384 had second grade and 462 had third grade certificates. 
Even a first grade certificate demands a bare high school education. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 5 

hearing fifteen or twenty small classes a day with only one, two or 
three pupils in each class. Several times this many pupils could 
be taught in each class just as well as not. There would be few 
more classes in a consolidated school of a hundred and fifty pupils 
than there are in a one-room school of twenty-five pupils. By 
combining six such schools the work could easily be much better 
done by four teachers, and still give three times as much time to 
each class, thus saving the cost of two teachers and giving better 
service at the same time. Even where the single teacher schools 
are crowded with sixty or eighty pupils, as many are in Texas, con- 
solidation would still be valuable, for four teachers can handle two 
hundred and forty pupils far better in a well classified school than 
one can handle sixty in an ungraded school. As a matter of fact 
there are in Texas over G000 one-teacher white schools. There are 
533 with less than twenty pupils enrolled, and ninety-six with less 
than ten.* If we had taken actual attendance instead of enroll- 
ment, the number with less than twenty or less than ten pupils 
would have been much larger. In some places in Texas the length 
of the school term could be actually doubled without any additional 
cost if consolidation were practised. 

3. Better teachers can be secured, because of the increased pay, 
or the increased length of school term, or because of the fact that 
the work with a smaller number of classes and in company with 
several fellow teachers is far more stimulating and attractive. 

4. There is possibility of intelligent supervision of teachers, 
which is now impracticable, with dozens of little schools scattered 
all over each county. 

5. With a larger area to draw from, better trustees are more 
likely to be secured. The possibility of one prominent family 
"running" the school and bulldozing the teacher is also lessened. 



*These figures are exclusive of independent districts and community 
counties. Furthermore, a few counties had not reported at the time these 
statistics were gathered. These figures were gotten by a careful compila- 
tion from the county reports in the office of the State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, but the correct number in each case is undoubtedly 
far above that given here. Our Legislature and our county officials have 
not yet learned the value of statistics, and have made it well-nigh impos- 
sible for an investigator to find out the facts. [These facts were gathered 
in 1903. As is indicated in the supplement to this edition, there has been 
some improvement since that time, but this is not great enough to invali- 
date any conclusions drawn in this Bulletin. — A. C. E.] 



6 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

6. Better grading and classification of the pupils is possible. 
As mentioned above, there is almost as great variety of pupils in 
a school of forty as one of a hundred and sixty, and hence the 
one teacher must, in order to get along at all, throw together in 
the same class pupils of very different knowledge and ability. With 
four teachers to conduct classes there is greater opportunity for 
providing a class .to fit each pupil's stage of advancement. 

7. Larger classes, if not too large; add to the interest of pupils 
and teachers. The higher classes especially need this at present in 
our rural schools. The one or two pupils in these classes have little 
stimulus to higher work. The presence of a larger number of 
advanced pupils and the possibility of giving these the needed 
attention will serve to broaden the life of the larger boys and girls 
and hold them in the school. 

8. Each teacher will have fewer classes and hence longer time 
to devote to his own preparation and to the teaching of each lesson. 

9. With four or six teachers in one school it will be possible to 
add other subjects and enrich the curriculum. One teacher 
could teach manual training along with mathematics or some of 
the sciences. The rudiments of agriculture, horticulture, etc., 
along with nature study, have been taught with great success in 
some of these schools in the middle west. With nature's laboratory 
free at the door, and land almost free,, and with fairly good text- 
books on agriculture now published, there is no reason why our 
farmers' boys should not be prepared in school to carry into the 
work of agriculture the same training and scientific knowlege 
which have improved upon and displaced rule-of-thumb methods 
in other fields of human endeaver. The splended work done in 
agriculture in the schools of other states and countries, shows that 
this is entirely practicable*. 

If to consolidation transportation is added, as is necessary where 
many single schools are combined into one, the following additional 
advantages arise, as has been shown in actual experience : 



*The University has published a bulletin giving full account 'of the 
methods employed in teaching agriculture in the public schools, showing 
what has been done elsewhere, and how, and outlining a plan for courses 
in our own schools. This will be sent free on request. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 7 

1. The attendance is more regular and tardiness is eliminated. 

2. The attendance is larger. 

3. Pupils are healthier. They do not have to walk through mud 
or rain and then sit in wet shoes all day. 

4. The pupils are under the care of some responsible person 
all clay, and hence the girls are protected on the way to and from 
school, and the boys are removed from the temptation to quarrels 
and other misconduct on the way to and from school. 

5. The central building with its assembly room, library and 
piano affords a social and intellectual center for the community. 
The same wagonette which carries the children to school in the day 
may bring the parents together at night or on Saturday for school 
entertainments, public lectures, debating clubs, or farmers' insti- 
tutes. 

In short, the consolidated rural school brings to the country that 
thing the absence of which has driven so many families to town 
and so many boys off the farm, namely, a well-classified, well- 
equipped, well-taught school. It will be no longer necessary for the 
well-to-do farmer to move to town to educate his children, nor will 
he need to spend his money on boarding schools and subject his 
boys to the moral dangers arising from life in a city away from 
parental care. The consolidated rural school will enable parents to 
furnish their children a first-class school, and at the same time keep 
them in their own home and under their own care, where they may 
be of service to the home, and receive that part of education which 
the home alone can give. 

OBJECTIONS AND DIFFICULTIES. 

As might be expected, human ignorance and human selfishness 
have always led people to oppose the consolidation of schools when 
first proposed. To those local tyrants who are determined to run 
things their own way, or to tho'se who think that their friend or 
kinsman must be furnished a little school to teach, regardless of the 
welfare of the children or of the community, nothing can be said. 
The power of the local tyrant is undoubtedly lessened by consolida- 
tion, and the more incompetent ones of the local teachers will be the 
first to lose their jobs. The sentimental objection to closing the 



8 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

little school house down the lane will likewise be unaffected by 
rational considerations. Other objections based on neither greed 
nor sentiment are brought which deserve consideration. It is 
urged against consolidation: 

1. It is too expensive. In answer to this it can be said that as 
a matter of fact the expense per pupil has been reduced more often 
than increased, in spite of the fact that a better school has been 
provided and the cost of transportation is added. In the quot- 
ations given later there is one case in which consolidation reduced 
the cost from $16.00 to $10.48 per pupil enrolled, in another from 
$5.03 to $2.31, and gave a better school because of more intelligent 
plan of organization. Other cases may be seen in the quotations 
given later in this bulletin. It has been pointed out above why the 
expense for both teachers and buildings may be actually lessened. 

2. The farms, remote from the central school, will depreciate 
in value. As a matter of experience, the value of the farms, as 
far as we have found, has invariably increased in the entire district. 
Certainly the presence of a good school should add to the value 
of property within the entire range of free transportation. 

3. Pupils in going so far to a central school have to leave home 
too early and return too late, or they are too much exposed to 
weather in the long drives to and from school, or are in danger 
from immoral drivers. As a matter of fact, it takes no longer to 
ride three of four or five miles — the greatest distance for the most 
distant pupils — than to walk half that distance, which is frequently 
done. Careless or immoral drivers are a real danger which must 
be carefully guarded against. To insure comfort and safety in con- 
veyance the rules governing transportation should require a rain- 
proof wagonette, with plenty of robes, a safe team and reliable 
driver. The drivers should be as carefully chosen as the teachers. 
Frequently some of the parents do this work, or some older 
responsible pupil acts as driver and is thus enabled to remain in 
school and complete the course. The driver calls at each home at 
a fixed time and is required to start and complete his work at 
fixed hours. In all the districts we have studied 7:15 is earliest 
hour at which a driver called for a pupil. In this case the pupil 
lived five and a half miles from the school. Experience has shown 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 9 

that pupils get home earlier and more safely in this way than under 
the present plan. 

4. There is lastly a natural fear that our country schools may 
get too large classes, become too mechanically graded, as are many 
city schools, and crush out the individuality of the pupils, to which 
the old country school gave such opportunity for development. It 
is a fact that many strong personalities have come from our old- 
field schools. In a one-teacher ungraded school each individual 
gets so little attention and aid from the teacher that the pupil is 
left pretty much to educate himself, or not, as he chooses. In cases 
of geniuses this may be an advantage. Geniuses are possibly as 
often retarded as helped by teachers, and since in the one-teacher 
school the pupil gets less help from the teacher, the individual 
genius can better go his own gait. However, most pupils are not 
geniuses and are helped by teachers, else we should never have 
schools at all. If we are to have them at all, let us organize them so 
that the teacher can best help their pupils. It is not at all necessary 
for the consolidated rural school to organize and grade the life out 
of itself. The rural schools have the advantage of the experience 
of the city schools and need not repeat their errors. The problem 
of respecting and developing individuality in large well-classi- 
fied schools has been well met in many places by wide-awake 
and thoughtful teachers even in cities, where the task is 
far more difficult than it ever will be in the country. Experience 
again has shown here, what reason foretold, that the consolidated 
school not only does not crush out iDdividuality of the pupil, but, 
on the contrary, the bright pupil in the larger country school, 
where all the boys of a whole district are gathered, has better 
opportunity for development of his special talent because of the 
stimulus and inspiration coming from contact with other bright 
minds of his own age. 

There are just two very genuine difficulties in the way of con- 
solidation: namely, bad roads and sparse population. These make 
it entirely impracticable in many parts of Texas at the present 
time. But even after we eliminate all this vast area there remain 
hundreds if districts in the State in which consolidation is en- 
tirely feasible and urgently needed. Texas is a whole empire in 
itself, presenting all educational problems and all classes of con- 



10 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

ditions. There are enough places ready for consolidation to occupy 
our best efforts for several years, after which many more places 
will be ready, for it is a matter of only a few years when roads 
will be built even in the black lands. 



THE SITUATION IN TEXAS. 



With over 6000 one- teacher white schools, with more than 600 
schools enrolling less than twenty pupils, and over 100 enrolling 
less than ten,* Texas would seem to offer a large field for Consoli- 
dation of Schools. If, in connection with this fact, one but con- 
siders the utter absence of equipment and the interminable list 
of lessons which must be heard each day by the teacher in each of 
the one-teacher schools, the need for consolidation becomes too ob- 
vious for discussion. For the enlightenment of those not familiar 
with the hopeless task now set many of our rural teachers, we give 
here two examples of the daily programs in actual operation. 

A MILAM COUNTY ONE-TEACHER SCHOOL DAILY PROGRAM. 

Singing 8 :45 to 8 :55. 

Roll call 8 :55 to 9 :00. 

Spelling class, A. . 9 :00 to 9 :05. 

Spelling class, B 9 :05 to 9 :10. 

Chart class 9 :10 to 9 :20. 

First Reader 9 :20 to 9 :30. 

Higher Arithmetic 9 :30 to 9 :45. 

Lower Arithmetic, No. 1 9 :45 to 10 :00. 

Lower Arithmetic, No. 2 10:00 to 10:15. 

Recess 10 :15 to 10 :30. 

Chart class 10 :30 to 10 :35. 

First Reader 10 :35 to 10 :45. 

Second Reader 10 :45 to 10 :55. 

Civil Government 10 :55 to 11 :05. 

Third Reader 11 :05 to 11 :20. 

Fourth Reader 11 :20 to 11 :35. 

Texas History 11 :35 to 11 :50. 

United States History 11 :50 to 12:05. 

Noon recess 12 :05 to 1 :05. 



'See footnote, page 3. 



12 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

Number class 1 :05 to 1 :15. 

Chart class 1 :15 to 1 :25. 

First Header 1 :25 to 1 :35. 

Elementary Geography 1 :35 to 1 :50. 

Grammar School 1 :50 to 2 :00. 

Physical Geography 2 :00 to 2 :15. 

>Second Reader 2 :15 to 2 :25. 

Hyde's Language Lessons, I... 2:25 to 2:40. 

Hyde's Language Lessons, II.. 2:40 to 2:55. 

Eecess 2 :55 to 3 :10. 

Chart class 3 :10 to 3 :15. 

First Eeader 3 :15 to 3 :25. 

Physiology, 2d book 3 :25 to 3 :40. 

Physiology, 1st book 3 :40 to 3 :55. 

Spelling, B 3 :55 to 4 :05. 

Spelling, A 3 :55 to 4.05. 

Writing, whole school 4 :05 to 4 :20. 

A total of thirty-two lessons, ranging from A B C's to Physical 
Geography and Civil Government. 

Another one-teacher school program in daily operation: 

Writing, 8:50 to 9:00. 
U. S. History. 
Texas History. 
General History. 
First Reader. 
Second Reader. 
Third Reader. 
Fifth Reader. 
Recess, 10:20 to 10:30. 
Higher Arithmetic. 
Third Arithmetic. 
Second Arithmetic. 
First Arithmetic. 
Grammar (Sisk). 
Grammar (Hyde). 
Language. 
First Reader. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 13 

Noon recess, 12:00 to 1:00. 

Rhetoric. 

First Reader. 

Physiology ( Conn ) . 

Physiology, Lower. 

Physical Geography. 

Second Reader. 

Third Reader. 

Political Geography. 

Elementary Geography. 

Higher Algebra and Elementary Algebra (at same time). 

Recess, 2:50 to 3:00. 

First Reader. 

Civil Government. 

Geometry. 

Higher Speller. 

Second Speller, definitions. 

Dismiss. 

Here is a teacher actually attempting to teach each clay: three 
different history classes; nine reading classes; four arithmetic and 
two algebra classes; two grammar, one language, one rhetoric, 
And two spelling classes; two classes in geography, and one in 
physical geography; two classes in physiology and one in civil gov- 
ernment; making a total of thirty-one classes, covering almost 
a complete primary and grammar school curriculum with a few 
high school subjects added. The task is manifestly an impossible 
one. It is from three to five times what is expected of good 
teachers in our best city common schools, where usually only one 
grade of lessons is taught by one teacher, or in the high schools, 
where one teacher usually teaches only one, two or three subjects. 

The above daily programs give no exaggerated impression of 
the difficulty usually present in the one- teacher schools in Texas. 

In order to introduce consolidation in Texas there is fortunately 
no new law required. The number and location of schools within 
any district are entirely within the control of the trustees of said 
district; hence, all the legal procedure necessary for consolidating. 



14 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

either in whole or in part, the schools within any district is that 
the trustees so order it.* 

If wider consolidation is desired, two or more adjacent school 
districts may, whenever the commissioners court decree, be con- 
solidated, f In places where complete consolidation of neighboring 
districts is not feasible the well-known transfer law will usually 
cover all needs when establishing central consolidated schools near 
a district line.* 

It will be necessary in each case where a large new building is 
demanded, or where transportation is needed, that the expense of 
building and of transportation be met by local tax, since the 
state funds can be used only for the payment of teachers, of 
the treasurer and of the census taker. This small local tax must 
be raised, under the present or any other system, if our schools 
are ever to be worthy of the name. There are now in Texas more . 
than 2207 districts levying a local tax, and the number is rapidly 
increasing. The rapid progress of this movement in the last few 
years is a most hopeful sign. The large central school fund in 
Texas came near becoming a menace to the advance of our schools 
in leading many of our citizens to think that no local tax is neces- 
sary. As a matter of fact, the state funds provide only about $5 
per year for each child, whereas in the better educated states from 
$20 to $38 per year per child is provided, largely through local 
taxation. Of all the funds expended on public schools in the 
United States as a whole, 80 per cent is derived from local tax- 
ation, while in Texas as yet only about 33 per cent is raised by 
local tax. A moment's consideration will show how hopeless is 
the situation without a local tax. Forty pupils are a large number 
for one teacher, even in a well-graded school. This number at 
$5 per pupil would furnish just $200 per year — a salary not 
likely to command a very high order of teacher. The local tax 
is an absolute necessity under any plan. The amount of local 
tax which would be demanded to establish good rural schools under 
the present wasteful plan would be very great, but- under a rational 



*See See. 121, School Laws of Texas, 1905. 

*See Sec. 101, School Laws of Texas, 1905; also Sec. 59 for County Line 
District. 

*See Sec. 58, School Laws of Texas, 1905. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 15 

system of consolidation the tax demanded for really good schools 
need not be burdensome. Where a district is "Independent" and 
can issue long-time bonds, the expense of a large four or six-room 
consolidated school building is easily met. The action of the legis- 
lature in granting to common school districts also the power to 
issue bonds for building purposes has removed one of the serious 
obstacles to consolidation and to the obtaining of good school 
houses in rural districts.* Three thousand dollars in thirty-year 
5 per cent bonds will cost $150 the first year for interest, and $100 
per year sinking fund, the interest growing $5 less each year for 
thirty years. Thus $250 would be the cost the first year and $105 
the last year, or an average of $177.50 per year for thirty years for 
a $3000 school building. The cost of maintenance would, of course, 
depend upon local conditions. 

As examples of what might be done in hundreds of districts in 
Texas, we give facts, with charts, for several districts of which 
we happen to know. It is not claimed that these are the best places 
in which to begin consolidation in Texas. There are probably 
many other places unknown to us which are even better adapted 
to immediate consolidation. 

Diagram No. 1 is of a district in Bexar county which has been 
furnished us by Supt. P. F. Stewart, to whom we are also in- 
debted for the following facts: "In this district five schools are 
at present maintained with an enrollment of 228, and an average 



*The common school districts are, however, still restricted by the con- 
stitution to a two-mill limit of school tax, while the independent districts 
may levy a five-mill tax. Until this limit of two mills for school tax is 
raised, it will be impossible to pay either for good school houses or good 
teachers, except in very favorably located districts. The present legis- 
lature has very wisely placed before the people an opportunity to vote for 
an amendment to the constitution increasing the tax limit in common 
school districts from two to five mills. If the friends of education will see 
to it that this amendment is carried, it will make possible consolidation 
and good schools in thousands of rural districts, which under the present 
constitutional restrictions are helpless. The present legislature has also 
ordered a vote on that clause in the constitution which requires a two- 
thirds vote of the taxpayers in order to issue bonds for school buildings. 
At present we are in the absurd position of being able to issue bonds for 
a city hall or public park or any other kind of enterprise on a bare 
majority vote, but in order to issue school bonds, we must secure a two- 
thirds vote of taxpayers. The removal of this special obstruction to educa- 
tional progress is essential to the rapid development of an adequate 
school system in Texas. 



16 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

attendance of 200. If these schools were all closed and one five- 
room school established at the point indicated on the diagram, 
three routes would need to be laid out for the transportation of 
pupils. One route six miles long, one seven, and one eight, as 
indicated in the diagram, would pass within easy reach of 80 
per cent of the children needing transportation. The majority of 



■ Existing 5cmo«Ji-5 

m Proposed Central School; 

X MoivtES WITH CWLX>REN 

Diagram No. 1, representing a district in Bexar county needing consolida- 
tion of Schools. 

the children would be within walking distance of the school. The 
roads on all routes indicted are fairly good and could be made 
good with but slight outlay of labor. At present six teachers 
are employed at a cost of $300 per month. The quality of these 
schools is about on a par with average ungraded rural schools. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 1? 

"The probable cost of a new five-room building would be $2300. 
The five old buildings would sell for about $800, leaving a balance 
of $1500 to be met. Thirty-year 5 per cent bonds to cover this 
amount would cost on the average $88.75 per year. A good prin- 
cipal could be secured for $75 per month, four fair assistants for 
$50 each per month. The total expenses, then, for an eight-months' 
term would be as follows : 

Tax for building $ 88 75 

Principal's salary, eight months, at $75 600 00 

Four teachers, eight months, at $50 each 1,600 00 

Transportation, eight months, at $100 800 00 

Eepairs and incidentals 180 00 

Total $3,268 75 

To meet this expense would be the following: 

State apportionment (about 400 children) $2,000 00 

Local tax now levied 300 00 

Over and under age pupils 300 00 

Total $2,600 00 

"This would leave a balance of $668.75 to be met by local tax 
or subscription. The taxable values in this district are approxi- 
mately $196,000. A tax of less than five mills would raise the 
local tax from $300 to $975, thus furnishing all the funds needed 
to establish and maintain this consolidated school. Here we would 
have an eight-months' school, a large, well-equipped building, a 
well-trained principal, a school well graded, so that the number 
of classes to be taught each day by each teacher would be less 
than half of what is now required in the one-teacher schools. 
Under these conditions the teachers could prepare each lesson bet- 
ter and teach it more effectively. Furthermore, with four assist- 
ants to teach the common school grades, the principal would be 
able to introduce the most substantial of the high school studies, 
and thus bring to the door of our agricultural population the 
'Peoples' College,' which would prepare the boys and girls at 
their homes either for intelligent citizenship or for entrance into 



18 



The Consolidation of Bural Schools. 



the higher institutions of learning. As soon as our higher insti- 
tutions furnish a supply of teachers able to teach agriculture and 
manual training, these subjects could easily be added to the course. 
Under the present plan of one- teacher schools this is impossible. 




yijil.lt. 



Diagram No. 2, representing a district in Milam county needing con- 
solidation of schools. £ Represents existing schools; x represents homes 
with children ; * represents starting points for wagonette ; - - - represents 
roads wagonette routes. 

There is simply no comparison between the present school work of 
four months in the little one-teacher schools and the work which 
could be done under a rational plan of consolidation." 

Diagram No. 2 is that of a district in Milam county, which was 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 19 

furnished by Supt. F. J. Clements, to whom we are indebted 
also for the following facts : 

"In this district there are at present four schools, employing 
five teachers, with 195 pupils enrolled, and an average attendance 
of about 110. If these schools were closed and a four-room cen- 
tral school established at the point indicated on the diagram, much 
the larger part of the pupils would still be within walking dis- 
tance. For those distantly located three transportation routes 
would suffice, one three miles, one four miles, and one four and 
a half miles long. The roads on all routes are fairly good. 

"At present the five teachers cost $230 per month for an average 
of five and a half months each year; total, $1215. Repairs and 
other expenses bring the grand total to $1275. This gives a five 
and a half months' schooling, the quality of which may be judged 
by the program sent. The probable cost of a new four-room central 
building would be $1800. The present old buildings and school 
property would sell for $600, leaving $1200 to be met by local tax 
or subscription. Thirty-year 5 per cent bonds to cover this amount 
would cost the district on an average less than a hundred dollars 
per year. A good principal for the school would cost $75 per 
month, and fair assistants $40 per month. The total expenses, 
then, for an eight-months' term of this well-graded and compe- 
tently taught school would be as follows: 

Tax for building $ 100 00 

Principal's salary, eight months at $75 600 00 

Three teachers, eight months, at $40 960 00 

Transportation, eight months, at $90 720 00 

Incidentals 100 00 

Total $2,480 00 

To meet this expense there would be the following receipts : 

State and county apportionment (about 195 

pupils $1,030 00 

Present local tax 250 00 

Pupils over and under age (probably) 200 00 

Total $1,480 00 



20 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

"This leaves a balance of $1000 to be met by local taxation. 
Only two districts included in the proposed consolidated district 
collect a local tax at present If the property in the four districts 
were assessed at one-half its market value, a four-mill tax would 
more than pay all expenses of a consolidated school. Since con- 
solidation usually increases average attendance from 40 to 50 per 
cent, the average cost per month per pupil would be about $1.80 
per month instead of $2.10, the present cost, thus making an actual 
decrease in per capita expense. We would thus have a good well- 
graded school with an eight months' term in place of the four little 
schools now struggling against hopeless difficulties for five and one- 
half months each year. The cost would be almost a fourth less if 
the school lasted only six months. In this case, however, it would 
not be possible to get as good quality of teachers. The advantages 
of the consolidated school over the present plan are so apparent 
and have been so often stated that I will not enumerate them 
here." 

Diagram No. 3, which represents a district centering around 
Alvin, was furnished by Supt. K. E. Foster, to whom we are in- 
debted also for the following facts: 

"In the district surrounding Alvin there are, as indicated, five 
public schools, one four miles from Alvin, another three, another 
two and a half, another one and a half, and another one and a 
quarter. These schools employ for six months six teachers, en- 
roll 220 pupils, and have an average daily attendance of about 
140 pupils. If these schools were closed and all the pupils came 
to the Alvin schools, a large majority would still be within walking 
distance, and those distantly located could be transported in two 
wagonettes, each having a route six miles long, as indicated on 
the diagram. These roads are good. 

"Alvin is an independent school district, with 190 white scho- 
lastic population, drawing $950 of State funds, and with a local 
tax of five mills, yielding $1250. It expends $2300 per year on 
its schools, which are open for eight months, and employs a prin- 
cipal and five teachers. The school building has six rooms cap- 
able of accommodating at present 240 pupils. If the rural pupils 
were brought to this building, five additional rooms would be 
needed. This would cost, approximately, $5000. The present 



The Consolidation, of Rural Schools. 



21 



rural school property would sell for about $1500, leaving $3500 
to be raised. The cost of 5 per cent thirty-year bonds to cover 
this would be less than $300 per year. No extra principal would 
be needed, but three extra teachers would, at $50 per month, cost 
$1200 per year. The cost for transportation would be about $125 




Diagram No. 3, representing a district in Brazoria county surrounding 
Alvin, and presenting opportunities for consolidation of schools. <0s Rep- 
resents existing schools; * represents starting point for wagonettes; — 
represents roads and wagonette routes. 

per month for eight months; total, $1000. The total extra cost 
above the present expenses of the Alvin schools of providing 
for all these pupils for eight months in Alvin would then be about 
$2500 per year. The cost of the five separate rural schools is 



22 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

now $345 per month, for six months; total, $2070. This leaves 
$430 as the total extra cost to the district for substituting eight 
months of a well-taught graded school for six months of our present 
unclassified and poorly- taught schools. The taxable values in 
this district outside of Alvin are about $300,000. A local tax, 
then, of two mills would cover this expense." 

Diagram No. 4 does not represent exactly the present district 




Diagram No. 4, representing an area five miles in the northeastern part 
of Travis county, the black squares represent existing schools, the fig- 
ures beneath indicating the number of pupils enrolled. 

lines, but an area in the northeastern part of Travis county five 
miles square. The exact lines of the present school district could 
not be gotten without a deal of effort that would hardly have been 
justified. While the present district lines would vary somewhat 
from this, the difference would not be enough to seriously inter- 
fere with the statements made below. We are indebted to Supt. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 23 

Will Brady and to Judge Z. T. Fulmore for assistance in securing 
information about this district. 

There are at present in this district seven schools, employing 
seven teachers, enrolling over three hundred pupils, with an aver- 
age daily attendance of about two hundred and twenty-five. These 
pupils could be better cared for by five teachers in a five-room 
building near the center of the district. The few pupils 
beyond walking distance could be conveyed to school. The new 
building would cost about $2500. The present property would sell 
for about $400, leaving $2100 to be raised locally by subscription 
or taxes. This, in thirty-year 5 per cent bonds, would cost on an 
average less than a hundred and fifty dollars per year. The cost, 
then, of a six-months' school would be as follows : 

Building tax $ 150 00 

Principal, six months, at $75 450 00. 

Four teachers, six months, at $50 1200 00 

Transportation, six months, at $100 600 00 

Incidentals 25 00 

Total $2425 00 

To meet this there is at present only the state apportionment of 
about $2000. The district would have to raise, therefore, by local 
tax, $425. The taxable property in this district is listed at about 
$300,000, which at two mills tax would furnish the additional 
funds required to give this whole district a well-graded six-months' 
school. This school would be far better than the present schools, 
but still would have too many pupils to the teacher even when well- 
graded. Two additional teachers and two extra rooms would add 
about seven hundred dollars more of expense, but would give a good 
school still for less than a four-mills' tax. 

As there is no central hamlet of 200 inhabitants in this district 
or those shown in Milam or Bexar counties, it is impossible under 
the present constitution for these people to incorporate as an 
independent district and levy a local tax of more than two mills.* 
In the districts fortunate enough to include a village of 200 in- 



f There are only 515 independent districts in the entire slate. 



24 • The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

habitants the law does not stand in the way of progress by pre- 
venting taxation above two mills, but in the thousands of strictly 
rural districts the constitution, by forbidding the establishment 
of independent districts and forbidding a tax of more than two 
mills, absolutely precludes the betterment of our rural schools. 
Friends of education must see that this obstacle to progress is 
removed. 

A very limited study of the location of school houses in a few 
counties has disclosed a great need in many districts for consolid- 
ation of two or more small schools, without transportation. The 
multiplying of little half-starved schools is a great mistake which 
earnest school trustees should correct at once. Several places have 
come under our notice in which the school term could be practically 
doubled by simply putting two little schools into one, and even then 
no pupil would be at an impossible distance from the school. 

Texas will never attain the prominence and power which the 
fertility of her natural resource and the splendid native manhood 
of her people merit until to native genius are added education and 
training. Nothing is so costly as ignorance and lack of skill. Texas 
can no longer afford to develop so small a portion of her vast 
physical and mental resources. The State with its fertile fields 
and immense area must ever be largely agricultural and its 
population rural. The men and women who will manage the 
farms must be educated or fall behind in competition with other 
sections of the country which are introducing educated and trained 
workers and scientific methods of work. The rural schools must 
furnish this education. The most economical plan, the most 
feasible plan, is the consolidation of the present wretched little 
schools into larger central schools, better equipped, better classi- 
fied, better taught, to which all the boys and girls of the whole 
district are brought to acquire that training and education needed 
to meet the ever-increasing demands made by our growing civiliza- 
tion. 

In the increased prosperity which these educated minds and 
skilled hands will bring, all alike will share, whether they be farm- 
ers, land owners, merchants, workmen or professional men. Every 
Texan, has a personal interest in pressing forward this movement 
for the better education of the backbone of our citizenship. 



PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE WITH CONSOLIDA 
TION IN OTHER STATES. 



IOWA. 



In Iowa sixty-three districts have adopted consolidation, and 
eighty districts have provided transportation. The most inter- 
esting case mentioned by Supt. Barrett, in his Keport for 1901, 
is that of Buffalo Center district, in Winnebago county.* "Prior 
to October 1, 1897, the laws of Iowa provided that whenever the 
board of directors of any existing district township should deem 
the same advisable, and also whenever requested to do so by a pe- 
tition, signed by one-third of the voters of the district township, 
it should submit to the voters of that township * * * the 
question of consolidation. If a majority of the votes cast were 
in favor of a consolidated organization, the district township com- 
posed of subdistricts became an independent district. Acting 
under this statute the people of Buffalo Center township, in Win- 
nebago county, in 1895, formed an independent district, embrac- 
ing the entire civil township, six miles square, and voted bonds, 
running for a period of ten years, for the purpose of erecting an 

eight-room building. 

******* 

"At the time the township became independent it was not pro- 
posed to close the rural schools and transport the children. This 
was an after consideration, and arose from the demand upon the 
part of the people of the rural districts for better school facilities. 
On August 23, 1897, the residents of what was formerly known as 
sub-district No. 3 requested the board to" furnish transportation 
for their children to a central school. The request was granted 
and the outlying school closed. On August 30, of the same year, 
the board arranged for the transportation of the children in dis- 
tricts Nos. 2 and 4. On August 17, 1898, the board, upon petition, 



*Iowa Biennial Report, of the Department of Public Instruction, 1901, 
pages 78-80. 



26 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



arranged for the transportation of children from another ward. 
In April, 1899, the board, having noted the success with which 
their efforts had been attended, ordered all the rural schools in 
the district to be closed, except those in the extreme northeastern 
and southeastern portions of the township. 

"Contracts for years 1900-01 provided for the transporta- 



ti* I 'I t 

l i 4 i f 


1 


it v • ^ 


i <■ 


1 <-' ' .. ' 


m 




gj Central School •*< Ho,;i 

fl ABANOONEP,5^ool 

[Q Schools t*j use ^ 37"©^ 


■ 



Diagram of Buffalo Center Township showing central school and routes 
of wagonettes in collecting pupils. 

tion of ninety-eight children. Six routes are laid out, and one 
team is provided for each. For convenience, the routes are num- 
bered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, beginning with the one running north from 
the central school. The greatest distance the children most re- 
mote on the different routes are conveyed is as follows : 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 27 

Eoute 1 3.50 miles. 

Eoute 2 4.50 miles. 

Eoute 3 5.50 miles. 

Eoute 4 5.75 miles. 

Eoute 5 5.50 miles. 

Eoute 6 6.25 miles. 

"Winnebago county is one of the newer counties, and the roads 
have not been so thoroughly graded and drained as in the older 
sections, consequently the roads are not so good as in many parts 
of the State. * * * The time required to convey children to 
and from the central school depends upon the condition of the 
roads. * * * When very muddy the drivers begin collecting 
the children at from 7:15 to 8:15, according to the length of 
the route, and return them to their homes from 4:45 p. m. to 
5 :45 p. m. 

"The compensation paid the drivers is $30 per month, except on 
Eoute 1 where only $25 are paid. For this amount they are re- 
quired to furnish their own properly covered, strong, safe, suitable 
vehicle subject to the approval of the board, with comfortable seats, 
and a safe, strong, quiet team, with proper harness, with which to 
convey and collect safely and comfortably all the pupils of the 
school age on the route, and to furnish warm, comfortable blankets 
or robes sufficient for the best protection and comfort for each and 
all pupils to and from the public school building and their respect- 
ive homes. They agree to collect all the pupils by driving to each 
and all the homes where pupils reside, and to get them to school not 
earlier than 8 :40, and not later than 8 :45. They are required to 
drive personally and manage the team, and refrain from the use 
of any profane or vulgar language within the hearing or presence 
of the pupils, nor may they use tobacco in any form during the 
time they are conveying children. They are not permitted to drive 
faster than a trot, and are required to keep order and report im- 
proper conduct on part of the pupils to the principal or president 
of the board. * * * To insure the contract being kept one- 
half the salary is held back each month. 

"In 1894 the district township was composed of six sub-districts, 
and required six buildings, six teachers and six sets of apparatus. 



28 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

* * * The average daily attendance of the entire district town- 
ship for that year (six months) was 90. For the year ending Sep- 
tember, 1900, eight teachers were employed for nine months, and 
the average daily attendance was 290. Estimating the average cost 
of tuition per month per pupil upon the total expenditure for school 
purposes we find it to have been $5.03 in 1894 under the plan of 
separate schools, while in 1900 it was $2.31." 

INDIANA. 

Superintendent Frank Jones, of Indiana, gives in his report for 
1902* an interesting account of the consolidation which has taken 
place in one or more groups of schools in fifty-one counties in his 
state. The following remarks on the Hamilton township consoli- 
dated schools are typical. 

"If any one has doubts of the wisdom of the consolidation of 
schools he should visit this school, located just outside the small 
village of Eoyerton. * * * Here are gathered each day 192 
pupils, 118 of whom are conveyed at public expense in wagons 
owned by the township. Seventy-four pupils belong to the orig- 
inal Eoyerton district and of course continue to walk to the school. 
*********** 

Eoute No. 1 3.50 miles, 12 children. 

Eoute No. 2 3.50 miles, 8 children. 

Eoute No. 3 4.50 miles, 16 children. 

Eoute No. 4 5.75 miles, 19 children. 

Eoute No. 5 5.50 miles, 25 children. 

Eoute No. 6 3.25 miles, 17 children. 

Eoute No. 7 3.75 miles, 12 children. 

Eoute No. 8 5.25 miles, 9 children. 

"I made a personal inspection of this school on October 6, 1902. 
I asked the pupils to tell me what they thought of the plan, and 
lacked one vote of having it unanimously in favor of transporta- 
tion. The one pupil who did not like it said that he could state no 
objections. The enthusiasm, happiness, industry and good health 
of the pupils were more marked than in any other rural school that 



*Report of Superintendent of Public Instruction of Indiana, pages 729- 
735. Also The Western Journal of Education, pages 468-79. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 29 

I have visited. Here are gathered enough pupils to have in one 
class an active competition and genuine class enthusiasm. The 
'hum-drum' of a one-pupil class is not seen here. The collection of 
enough country pupils with good habits, good health, and industry, 
with all the graded school advantages makes here a school even 
better than the best city graded school. All the teachers are quali- 
fied, well trained and experienced. A music supervisor visits them 
once each week, and the consolidation enables the county superin- 
tendent to supervise when necessary. * * * There is also a 
high school department with twenty- seven pupils, four of them 
young men who act as drivers for the wagons, and are thus kept in 
school. * * * The attendance is always good, and punctual- 
ity is nearly perfect, tardiness being almost unknown. The wagons 
are owned by the township, and cost from $80 to $125 each. 

"The following shows the comparative cost of the two plans: 

DISTRICT PLAN". 

Salaries for seven teachers, seven months $2,492 00 

Institute fee for seven institutes 124 60 

Fuel for seven rooms, $30 per room 210 00 

Supplies for seven rooms, $10 per room 70 00 

Eepairs for seven rooms, $20 per room 140 00 

Total $3,036 60 

CONSOLIDATION PLAN. 

Salaries for four teachers, seven months $1,442 00 

Institute fees for seven institutes 72 00 

Fuel for four rooms, $30 per room 120 00 

Supplies for four rooms, $10 per room *. . . 40 00 

Eepairs for four rooms, $20 per room 80 00 

Transportation at $8.87 per day 1.225 00 

Total $2,979 00 

Difference in favor of consolidation $ 57 50 



30 



The Consolidation of Plural Schools. 
OHIO AND ILLINOIS. 



0. T. Carson, State Commissioner of Common Schools, in his 
report to the Governor of Ohio for 1896, says: "The expense of 
schooling the children has been reduced nearly one-half, the daily 



Seward Townsh ijo, Winnc6(xgo Co. III. 




m Abandoned school bu-ildinqs. 

a Atcus central school building. 

• Remat'nina district school Sut'/dirtfS. 

(Courtesy of Supt. O. J. Kern, Rockford, 111.) 

attendance has been very largely increased and the quality of work 
done has been greatly improved/'* 



*Westem Journal of Education, page 427. 



The Consolidation of Bural Schools. 



31 



Superintendent 0. J. Kern, of Winnebago county, 111., after an 
inspection and study of the consolidated schools of Ohio intro- 
duced consolidation into his own county. The following is taken 
from the report which he made after this visit and inspection : 

"The first place we visited was Perry, Lake county, where there 



CONSOLIDATED 5CWcL 

AT 5CWADD 
WINNCDAGO CQ — ILL 




fPONT CLCVATION 

(Courtesy of Supt. O. J. Kern, Rockford, 111.) 

is a Township High School. The principal, Professor Morrison, is 
a pioneer in the matter of centralization. He assured us that the 
experiment was no longer an experiment, that the new movement 
was the logical solution of the country school problem, and that 
centralization of districts with transportation of pupils had come 



32 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



to stay. It gave much better schools with but a slight, if any, in- 
crease in the cost to the township. The opposition to the plan 
has long since died out. This has been the testimony at every 
place visited thus far. * * * 




a. dcssgm ko» the. fmpwvembntf awu planting 
•Sewaj>s> School, grounds 



m^m 



(Courtesy of Supt. 0. J. Kem, Bockford, 111.) 
MADISON TOWNSHIP. 

"Madison township, Lake county, presents an excellent illustra- 
tion of what may be called partial centralization, that is a grouping 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 33 

of two, three or four schools into one without attempting to bring 
all the schools to the geographical center of the township. The 
latter method would not be practical because of the shape of Madi- 
son township. It is nine miles long and five miles wide. * * * 

THE KINGSVILLE SCHOOL. 

"As to the result of the Kingsville experiment, I can do no bet- 
ter than to quote from the Arena for July, 1899 : 

" ' * * * The residents of the sub-districts of Kingsville 
township which have adopted this plan would deem it a retrogres- 
sion to go back to the old sub-district plan. It has given the school 
system of Kingsville an individuality which makes it unique and 
progressive. Pupils from every part of the township enjoy graded 
school education, whether they live in the most remote corner of 
the township or at the very doors of the central school. The line 
between the country-bred and the village-bred youth is blotted out. 
They study the same books, are competitors for the same honors, 
and engage in the same sports and pastimes. This mingling of 
the pupils from the sub-districts and the village has had a deepen- 
ing and broadening influence upon the former without any disad- 
vantages to the latter. With the grading of the school and the 
larger number of pupils have come teachers of a highly educated 
class. Higher branches of study are taught, the teachers are more 
conversant with the needs of their profession. The salaries are 
higher; the health of the pupils is preserved, because they are not 
compelled to walk to school in slush, snow and rain, to sit with 
damp and perhaps wet feet in ill-ventilated buildings. Nor is 
there any lounging by the wayside. As the use of indecent and 
obscene language is prohibited in the wagons all opportunities for 
quarreling or improper conduct on the way to and from school are 
removed. The attendance is larger, and in the sub-districts which 
have taken advantage of the plan it has increased from 50 to 150 
per cent in some cases; truancy is unknown. It has lengthened 
the school year for some of the sub-districts; it has increased the 
demand for farms in those sub-districts which have adopted the 
plan, and real estate therein is reported more salable. The drivers 
act as daily mail carriers. All parts of the township have been 
brought into closer touch and sympathy. The cost of maintenance 



34: 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



is less than that of the schools under the sub-district plan; the 
township has had no schoolhouses to build; it has paid less for re- 
pair and fuel. Since the schools were consolidated the incidental 
expenses have decreased from $800 to $1100 per year to from $400 
to $600 per year. In the first three years following its adoption 
Kingsville township actually saved $1000.' 

"Prof. York, superintendent of the above mentioned Kingsville 




Diagram of Gustavus Township, showing the central school and transpor- 
tation routes. 
(Courtesy of Supt. O. J. Kern, Eockford, 111.) 

school, says, concerning the system of consolidation : 'The best 
physical laboratory in America is the well-regulated American farm. 
Here the boys and girls study nature first hand. Here they ob- 
serve the growth and life of plants and animals. Here they breathe 
pure air, become familiar with the beauties and wonders of the 
natural world. Here they make character. To have added to all 
these opportunities the advantages of a high school education Avith- 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 35 

out any of the disadvantages that attend the spending of evenings 
without chores or home duties in the town is an educational con- 
dition that is almost ideal.'* 

GUSTAVUS AND GREEN TOWNSHIPS. 

"We wished to find centralized schools in a purely country town- 
ship, where there was no- village or village school, a place where 
country life was being preserved. We went thirty-five miles south 
of Ashtabula, and visited Gustavus and Green townships in Trum- 
bull county. The first place visited was Gustavus. This town- 
ship is exactly five miles square, as are all the townships of the 
Western Eeserve, with the exception of those along the shore of 
Lake Erie. In Gustavus township the town hall is situated exactly 
in the center of the township, as is the case in Green township. 
Here was a church, a country store and postoffice, and a few houses. 

"I had a picture of the centralized school of Gustavus, and was 
anxious to see the real thing. We saw it, and all was as repre- 
sented. The school building is located in the center of the town- 
ship. The school has been in operation two years. It is a four- 
room school, having a principal and three assistants. All the chil- 
dren of the township are brought to this central school, and nine 
wagons are enployed in the transportation. 

"The wagons are provided with curtains, lap robes, soap stones, 
etc., for severe weather. The Board of Education exercises as 
much care in the selection of drivers as they do in teachers. The 
contract for each route is let out to the lowest responsible bidder. 
who is under bond to fulfill his obligations. The drivers are re- 
quired to have the children on the school grounds at 8:4o a. m., 
which does away with tardiness, and to leave for home at 3 :45 p. 
m. The wagons call at every farm house, where there are school 
children, the children thus stepping into the wag&ns at the road- 
side and are set down upon the school grounds. There is no tramp- 
ing through the snow and mud, and attendance is much increased 
and far more regular. With the children under the control of re- 
sponsible drivers there is no opportunity for vicious conversation or 



* Western Journal of Education, June, 1903, page 428. 



36 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

the terrorizing of the little ones by some bull)' as they trudge home- 
ward through the snow and mud from the district school. 

"During the school year 1898-99 there were enrolled in the 
grades below the high school eighty-two boys and fifty- two girls; 
in the high school room seventeen boys and thirty-five girls; mak- 
ing a total in the building of 186 pupils. * * * 

"Keep in mind that this school is not in a village and the chil- 
dren are scattered over twenty-five square miles of territory. The 
children are not tardy. * * * Any one who stands in that 
building, looks at those children and wagons, must be convinced 
that here is the solution of the country school problem. Because 



' 








t 








. t 


^.^ 


wstSM 


■-•-5P- ■_ A ' 


F:f7nj 


% 




■'"-I' 


ffl$ijejm&£i*Z% 




•.^^ 














i 






! 


^idafi'.i-^^ ' 


1 1 M^^H^I^flH 1 


^^n^^^^^^^^^^^n 


HUH 



Wagons used in ithe transportation of children, Gustavus Township, Trum- 
bull county, Ohio. 
(Courtesy of Supt. 0. J. Kern, Rockford, 111.) 

this problem is being solved in the country over six miles from the 
railroad. There is an organ in every room, and the Avails are deco- 
rated with pictures. They have started a library. In the high 
school room were fifty-two enrolled, with fifty present. Here was 
an opportunity for the big boys on every farm to get higher edu- 
cation and still be at home evenings, secure from the temptations 
and dissipations of city life. They rode home in the wagons with 
the children of the lower grades and thus were able to be of service 
on the farm. 

"The building is a frame structure, erected at a cost of $3000. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 37 

It is heated by steam. The principal gets $80 per month. 
* * * The drivers receive, respectively, $22, $30, $18, $25, 
$30, $32, $16, $30 and $17 per month, making an average of $1.25 
per day. Before the adoption of the centralization the average 
daily attendance was 125 pupils. It has increased to 144 at the 
end of the second year, and the principal told us the attendance is 
increasing all the time. Before the schools were centralized the 
cost for the entire township was $2900. Now it is only $3156, be- 
ing an increase of only $256 annually. And as to the character 
of the school, who will claim that the nine scattered schools were 
doing the work of a well-graded four-room school ? There is abso- 
lutely no comparison. In order to keep the school and pay off the 
school bonds, the Township Board of Education made a levy of 
nine mills on a valuation of $373,000. There was opposition to 
the plan at first, * * * Those who were opposed to central- 
ization of schools frankly acknowledge their mistake, and are found 
among the staunch supporters. We have found this true at every 
place we have visited. 

"A special committee was sent from an adjoining county to in- 
vestigate the Gustavus school. The committee was composed of 
one person opposed to the system and one in favor. They traveled 
over the township and talked to the people as we did. In their re- 
port, out of fifty-four families interviewed only one person with 
children was opposed ; seven of those in favor were formerly strongly 
opposed, while none that were first in favor of the system are now 
opposed. The same committee adds : 'Although the system costs 
a little more (the belief is that it is cheaper after building is paid 
for), yet the people, as a whole, are highly pleased and are very 
enthusiastic and proud of their schools. Several of the neighbor- 
ing townships, after carefully watching the system, have decided 
to centralize, and the growing opinion is that centralization is in 
harmony with educational progress.' 

"The committee's report is certainly correct. Bear in mind, the 
roads in this township are but a trifle, if any, better than the aver- 
age of Winnebago county. In fact, two or three townships of our 
county have, as a whole, better roads. The people are simply de- 
termined to have better school and will not allow obstacles to re- 
main in the way of their children's fullest and freest development, 



38 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



even if it does cost a few hundred dollars more per year for the 
entire township. * * * The average taxpayer would not know 
it. The testimony has been that after the new school building has 
been paid for that there is an actual saving per capita of children 
of school age in the township. Then think of the superior value 
of the new school over the old. It can not be a question of a few 
hundred dollars. 

"While we were at the Gustavus school the principal advised us 
to drive five miles to the west into Green township, where the peo- 
ple had centralized and put up a fine new brick building at a cost 




Central School, Green Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. 
(Courtesy of Supt. 0. J. Kern, Rockford, 111.) 

of over $6000. The people of Green township had watched the 
school in Gustavus township for two years, and believed so thor- 
oughly in the new plan that at the last April election they voted 
to centralize and bond the township for a long term to erect a new 
building. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the new school 
"This building stands in the center of the township in a com- 
munity distinctly country. There is no village beyond a store and 
postoffice, a town hall, a church or two, and a few dwellings. It is 
eleven miles from one railroad and six miles from another. It 
was built in 1900 at a cost of $6000. There are six school rooms 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 39 

with, two additional, one of which may serve as a library, and the 
other as an office and reception room. There is a basement under 
the entire building, part of which may be utilized for laboratory 
and gymnasium. The building is heated by steam. 

"To this building are brought all the children of the entire 
township. The superiority of the educational influence of such a 
building over that of eight or nine widely scattered, neglected dis- 
trict buildings is beyond controversy, to say nothing in the way of 
sanitary improvement, in the way of seating, lighting, heating and 
ventilation. Such a building may be had in hundreds of townships 
of Illinois. It would not be a burden to any of the taxpayers of 
any township of Winnebago county. Bonds could be issued for 
thirty years' time, money could be borrowed at 4 per cent. The 
annual interest on $6000 at 4 per cent would be $240, an amount 
no larger than the repairs of seven or eight district school houses 
from year to year if kept as they should be. One-thirtieth of the 
principal, or $200 plus the annual interest, $240, would make a 
total cost of $440 for building purposes for the first year, decreas- 
ing every year afterwards as bonds were paid off. * * * 

"They began this school in September last. The enrollment is 
180, over 150 of last year in the scattered schools. Four teachers 
are employed. All children of the township are brought to the 
school, and eight wagons are employed in the transportation. The 
campus has about three acres. Shade trees, school decoration, li- 
brary, etc., will come. How that school can be made the social, 
literary and musical center of the entire township! What an in- 
spiration it must be to a corps of teachers to work in such a com- 
munity as that. 

"In the primary room were all the little ones of the entire town- 
ship in a beautiful room, while in the high school room were many 
large farmer boys getting an education they could not otherwise 
gain." 

WHAT ONE EARNEST TEACHER DID IN PUTNAM COUNTY. 

The following account, taken from a recent number of The In- 
dependent, shows what one real live teacher with intelligence and 
energy can accomplish : 

"In September, 1904, Mabel Carney, a young Irish girl just out 



40 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

of the Normal School, began teaching in a country school in Mag- 
nolia Township, Putnam County, 111. She had high ideals of the 
dignity of her work, was ambitious, hardworking, persistent. Her 
school was small, the building delapidated and poorly equipped, the 
site unattractive. Two neighboring schools were equally typical of 
a condition commonplace in every state in our country. * * * 
This Irish girl had been fired by the enthusiasm and success of the 
ideals set forth by 0. J. Kern, of Winnebago County, and by the 
success of consolidation of schools in other states. She thought 
consolidation, dreamed consolidation and talked consolidation of 
these three inefficient country schools. 

"She won hearers enough to put the question to a vote in the 
spring of 1905. The election voted down the proposition. The 
defeat but aroused more of the Irish persistence, Irish determina- 
tion and Irish eloquence. In 1906 the three districts voted to 
consolidate. A sympathetic citizen, John Swaney, gave twenty- 
four acres for a campus. A campus for a country school ! Eight- 
een thousand dollars voted by the people made the building one of 
the best school houses in Illinois. Wagons carry the children who 
are too remote from the building to walk. The principal of this 
country school is paid a salary of $1000. On the campus is an 
agricultural experiment plot of six acres conducted in co-operation 
with the Agricultural School of the State University. A four-year 
high school course is offered with liberal opportunity of election of 
studies. Country boys and girls may here study agronomy, animal 
husbandry, horticulture, domestic science and art, and all phases 
of work vitally related to the fundamental needs of a people living 
in the country. 'Culture' subjects are not neglected, but most of 
all, the real basic interests of culture among an agricultural peo- 
ple are given due emphasis. The culture here developing is more 
than a veneer. A well-graded elementary and high school course 
in a building of exceptional excellence, a campus of twenty-four 
acres devoted to agricultural work, a tract of splendid natural 
forest, an enlarged country neighborhood bound into a sympathet- 
ically co-operative social unity, an abiding interest in the best and 
the truest in real country life, possibilities for higher culture not 
inferior to those of cities of ten thousand people — these are the 
products of the two years of strenuous endeavor of the Irish girl 
with the dynamic ideal." 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 41 

TRANSPORTATION CONTRACTS. 

An idea of the method employed in letting contracts for trans- 
portation of pnpils can be gotten from the following forms which 
are employed in Madison township, Lake county, Ohio,* and La 
Grange county, Indiana. 

NOTICE TO BIDDERS. 

Bids for the transportation of pupils of the Madison township 
schools, over the following routes, will be received at the office of 
township clerk until Friday, July 24, at 12 m. : 

Route A. Beginning at county line on North Eidge road, and 
running west on said road to school house in District No. 12. 

Route B. Beginning at Perry Line on the North Ridge road, 
and running east on said road to school house in District No. 12. 

Route C. Beginning on Middle Ridge road, at residence of N. 
Badger, running thence west on said road to the residence of Rev. 
J. Sandford, thence north to school house in District No. 12. 

Route D. Beginning at Perry Line on River road, and running 
thence east on said road to school house in District No. 6. 

Route E. Beginning at the Hartman farm, thence by Bennett 
road to Chapel road, thence east to A. R. Monroe's, thence west on 
Chapel road to school house in District No. 13. 

Route F. Beginning at residence of J. H. Clark, and running 
east on Chapel road to school house in District No. 13. 

All whose bids are accepted will be required to sign a contract by 

which they agree: 

1. To furnish a suitable vehicle with sufficient seating capacity, 
to convey all the pupils properly belonging to their route, and ac- 
ceptable to the committee on transportation. 

2. To furnish all necessary robes, blankets, etc., to keep the 
children comfortable; and in severe weather the conveyances must 
be properly heated by oil stoves or soap stones. 

3 To provide a good and reliable team of horses, and a driver 
who is trustworthy, and who shall have control of all the pupils 

Copied here from the Western Journal of Education, June, 1903, pages 



491-2. 



42 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

while under his charge, and shall be responsible for their conduct. 
Said driver and team to be acceptable to the committee on trans- 
portation. 

4. To deliver the pupils at their respective schools not earlier 
than 8:30 a. m., nor later than 8:50 a. m., and to leave at 4:05 
p. m. (sun time). 

Each contractor shall give bond for the faithful discharge of his 
contract in the sum of $100, with sureties approved by the presi- 
dent and clerk of the board. 

The committee reserves the right to reject any and all bids. 

By order of the committee, 

C. G. Ensign, Clerk. 

SCHOOL CONVEYANCE CONTRACT. 

Township, LaGrange county, Indiana. 

This article of agreement made and entered into this 

day of 190 . . , by and between , of 

LaGrange county, in the State of Indiana, and School 

Township, in the said coun'y and state. 

Witnesseth, That the said party of the first 

part, doth hereby agree to and with the said School 

Township, party of the second part, as follows, towit: 

That the said will convey by spring hack all 

children herein stated 

and such other children of school age whose parents may later re- 
side on the route or in the district. 

The transportation route shall be as follows: 



The said party of the first part further agrees to arrive at 

between. ... a. m. and. . . .a. m., standard (sun) time and leave 
said school house promptly at the close of each day's session and 
convey the foregoing pupils to their respective homes as expedi- 
tiously as possible in the same general manner as in the morning. 
He shall strictly prohibit profane or obscene language and boister- 
ous conduct in or about the hack. The said party of the first part 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 43 

further agrees not to use tobacco while in charge of the children, 
neither will he permit its use by any pupils in his custody. The 
pupils shall be conveyed with due regard to their comfort, and the 
team shall not only be safe, but reasonably speedy. 

(Additional considerations.) '. . . . . 

The services of the said party of the first part shall commence on 

the day of 190. ., and continue throughout 

the school year for such days as the school shall be in session. 

The said party of the first part (or second) shall provide a com- 
fortable and safe conveyance, and said vehicle shall be so con- 
structed that it can be entirely closed during inclement weather. 

(Additional consideration.) 

The said party of the second part in consideration of the prompt 
fulfillment on the part of the party of the first part contracts and 

agrees to pay dollars per day for services rendered as 

above stated. 

In case party of the first part fails, neglects, or refuses to faith- 
fully do and perform each and every one of the covenants and 
agreements herein specified on his part to be performed, then this 
contract shall be null and void at the option of the party of the 
second part, and the party of the second part may immediately 
bring suit on the bond annexed hereto for any damages sustained 
to the party of the second part by reason of the failure of the party 
of the first part to perform his covenants and agreements herein 
contained. 

In witness whereof, the above named parties have signed the 

above contract, this day of 190 . . 

Party of first part 

Party of the second part 

By Trustees. 

Know all men by these presents. That we, 

and are held and bound to the State of Indiana. 

in the sum of dollars, for the payment of which we do 

bind ourselves jointly and severally. The condition of this obli- 
gation is such that we do hereby guarantee the full performance of 



44 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

all conditions specified in said contract on the part of said 

to be kept. 

Now if the said shall faithfully fulfill all the 

requirements mentioned, then this obligation to be void, otherwise 
to be and remain in full force. 

Witness our hands and seals, this day of 190. . 

(Seal.) 

•. (Seal.) 

State Superintendent Frank L. Jones, of Indiana, says, con- 
cerning the matter of transportation contracts: • "I am not in 
favor of letting contracts for conveying pupils. It is not a matter 
which can be lumped off to the lowest bidder. It would be as sen- 
sible to employ teachers upon this basis. The law does not con- 
template that the contracts for transportation should be made in 
this way. It is entirely proper for a trustee or advisory board or 
both to fix the amount that will be paid and then select the best 
man for the work at that price." 

FLOEIDA. 

In Florida consolidation has been established in seventeen out of 
forty-four counties, and many more are favorable to it. The fol- 
lowing by Superintendent G-lenn, of Jacksonville, is the best ac- 
count* found: 

"Wisconsin and Mississippi and North Carolina write to Florida 
seeking our experience and method of transportation in Duval 
county, in connection with our centralization of rural schools dur- 
ing the last six years. 

"In this county six years ago there were forty-five rural schools 
of one teacher each, for white children, established by former ad- 
ministrations. The work of these schools was so unsatisfactory in 
general, and the per capita of expense ran so high in many of them, 
that the present administration determined to reduce the number 
to fifteen of three teachers each. 

"A statutory clause of the state provides that school children 
must not be required to walk to school more than one mile and a 



•Annals of the American Academy of Social and Political Science, Sept., 
1903, pages 14-16. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 45 

half. Hence, in choosing the sites for the centralized schools, the 
one having the greatest number of children within a radius of one 
mile and a half has generally been chosen. Seven of these schools 
are now in operation, each accommodating the children of about 
sixty to one hundred square miles of territory. Others will be es- 
tablished as rapidly as funds will permit. 

"The concentration of the children who live more than one mile 
and a half from these new schools is accomplished by means of 
wagonettes, specially designed for the purpose, and provided by the 
board of public instruction at the public expense. -They are of 
such capacity as to carry eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eight- 
een and twenty pupils, respectively, and cost from $70 to $100 
•each. Last year twenty-seven of these comfortable vehicles were 
running at an average cost of $23.33 J. These twenty-seven 
vehicles enabled us to close twenty-four of the old one-teacher 
•schools, the current cost of which had previously been $45.50 per 
month for each. Hence our transportation system now in opera- 
tion produces a current saving of $462 per month over the old 
method. This gross saving was reduced by $225, the increase in 
salaries for assistant teachers at the centralized schools, and there 
was still left a net saving of $237 per month. During a single 
term of eight months this net saving amounts almost to the entire 
■cost of the twenty-seven wagons, and since the life of a well-made 
wagon is about five years, four-fifths of this saving can be devoted 
to the extension of a new system and to better facilities for teach- 
ing. Therefore, even in a financial way, centralization in Duval 
•county, Florida, is a decided success. 

"Professionally there seems to be nothing objectionable, and of 
the many advantages the following are the more important: 

"1. The teacher's work is so well organized that the average 
recitation period is doubled. 

"2. The effort of the teacher is made more effective by means 
>of adequate equipment. 

"3. Truancy is wholly eliminated. The health of the pupils is 
preserved against bad weather and worse roads, but especially from 
the impure drinking water of former days. 

"4. Many children, formerly so isolated as never to have access 
to any school, are now accommodated, to the advantage of the sys- 
tem financiallv. 



4-6 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

"5. Local prejudice and family feuds are so completely sub- 
merged that one or two large families can not freeze out the teacher. 

"6. As a sequence to all these favorable conditions the average 
attendance is increased 12^ per cent, giving a corresponding in- 
crease of school funds from the State. 

"7. The country maiden may, and does, continue her education 
even on to the appreciative days of womanhood, without fear of 
molestation by the ubiquitous tramp or vagabond. 

"8. The youth prolongs his school days to the ambitious verg- 
ing into manhood, because his aspirations for intellectual progress 
have been encouraged — he has been given time and opportunity to 
think and to talk. 

"9. The farmer and his family are becoming more content with 
their independent, self-sustaining occupation, preferring to have 
their children educated in the efficient rural schools, where, during 
the character-forming period of youth, ethical culture is free from 
the dissipations of social life as manifested in our cities. 

"10. The development of the art of teaching by young aspirants 
is more feasible to the superintendent. His efforts at supervision 
are more frequent and more effective." 

Ellis Geiger, superintendent of Clay county, says : "In the past 
two years the number of schools in the county has been decreased 
from fifty-one to forty-one. This has been done by merging five 
schools into one in one case, three into one in two instances, and 
two into one in two cases. In order to do this it has been necessary 
to transport some of the most distant pupils. The entire current 
expense per month of the larger schools thus created, including 
transportation and increased salaries, is about $100 less than that 
of the little schools which existed before. By this consolidation 
the attendance has been considerably increased and more efficient 
teaching has been made practicable. This educational movement 
is coming into favor with the people. (Biennial Beport of Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction for Florida, 1902, p. 253.) 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

In the year 1893 Seymour Bockwell, the veteran school commit- 
teeman of Montague, Mass., said : "For eighteen years we have 
had the best attendance from the transported children; no more 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



47 




Public School-house in Mangum Township, Durham County, N. C. 
Bel'ure Consolidation of Districts. 




"New Public School-house in Same Township After Consolidation 
of Three Small Districts, Courtesy of Supt, J. Y. Joyner, State 
Superintended of Public Instruction of North Carolina. 



48 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

sickness among them, and no more accidents. The children like 
the plan exceedingly. We have saved the town* at least $600 a 
year."f 

In Masachusetts, in response to a circular of inquiry, "60 per 
cent of the towns report the cost as less, but the results better; 15 
per cent cost the same but the results better; 8 per cent cost more 
but results better; 8 per cent cost more but results not stated; 8 
per cent cost less but results not stated.'^ 

AUSTRALIA. 

In Victoria, Australia, under the system of conveyance, 241 
schools have been closed. The saving in closed schools amounts to 
about $71,000 per annum. The attendance is so regular and the 
system so popular that applications are constantly made for its ex- 
tension." I 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Fuller information concerning consolidation of schools may be 
found by consulting the following: 

The Western Journal of Education, June, 1903. (723 Market 
Street, San Francisco, Cal. Price, 15 cents.) This is a special 
number devoted to Consolidation of Schools, and gives an excep- 
tionally good collection of reports and articles on this subject. 

Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, for 
1902, Vol. II, pp. 2353-2369. This article contains a brief list of 
the best state reports on consolidation, together with selected quo- 
tations and other information. 

Proceedings and Addresses of the National Educational Associa- 
tion, for 1903, pp. 919-935. The first of the two articles in this 
volume contains a very full bibliography of the subject. 



*A "town" in Massachusetts corresponds to a township in other States, 
t 'Western Journal of Education, June, 1903, page 458. 
\G. T. Fletcher, in Western Journal of Education, June, 1903, page 462. 
\\Western Journal of Education, June, 1903, page 436. Quoted from Re- 
port of Minister of Public Instruction for Victoria, Australia. 



APPENDIX 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS FOE CONSOLIDATED 
RUftAL SCHOOLS 

BT 

A. CASWELL ELLIS 

So many new school buildings tire now being built for consoli- 
dated rural schools and so many of those thus far built are so 
unsightly, so unhygienic, and so poorly planned, that it has been 
thought advisable to add to this third edition of this Bulletin on 
Consolidation a few building plans and some suggestions about 
school architecture in general. These are taken from the Bulletin 
on School Buildings, which has been issued by the University and 
will be sent free upon request. 

THE COST OF UNHYGIENIC SCHOOL BUILDINGS. 

In no other branch of architecture is there probably as much 
waste through ignorance as in the planning of school buildings. 
This waste arises in part from the construction of rooms of di- 
mensions ill suited to school uses, from bad arrangement of cloak 
rooms, corridors, and stairs, and from waste in outside walls on 
account of many needless breaks and angles in the building, 
placed there by ignorant architects in vain attempts to hide their 
inability to make an artistic exterior for a simple dignified build- 
ing. But the greatest waste through poor school architecture is 
not in money spent at first on the building, but in waste of time 
and energy of both the pupils and teachers who must use the 
building for the next twenty or more years. They must constantly 
lose through the inconvenient arrangement of rooms, through bad 
heating and ventilation and injurious lighting. This lowered 
vitality and weakened nervous power of the pupils and teachers 
are damages that even in the one-room country school will in a 
few years run up into the thousands of dollars — many times the 
entire cost of the building. One of the government departments 
in Washington recently moved its old clerk force from an old, 



50 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

poorly lighted, badly ventilated building into a new building per- 
fectly lighted and ventilated and conveniently planned. It was 
reported that the same clerks, working the same number of hours 
per day, actually did 25 per cent more work per month in this 
new hygienically constructed building. School work is unques- 
tionably even more affected than routine clerks' work by unhy- 
gienic lighting, heating, and ventilation. But taking it on this 
same basis, and valuing an eight-year schooling to a boy at $400, 
or only $50 per year, let us see how much is wasted by an unhy- 
gienic building. The education which an average child gets from 
a year at school is, of course, worth to him in future life many 
times $50, but let us value it here merely at that. Then a 25 
per cent increase in efficiency of work through a hygienic school 
building would add a $12.50 increase to the value of the education 
received by each pupil each year, or a total of $500 per year 
per room of 40 children. In twenty years at even this absurdly 
low valuation the unhygienic one-room school costs the district in 
loss of efficiency in the education of their children the sum of 
$10,000. The eight-room consolidated school would lose in this 
time in the same way $80,000. 

AN EXPERT NEEDED IN PLANNING A SCHOOL BUILDING. 

That school boards should so long have failed to appreciate the 
many delicate and vital problems of hygiene and of architecture 
involved in the planning of school buildings is not strange. The 
construction, heating, lighting, and sanitation of school buildings 
present special problems which even the general architect and the 
successful physician are not usually prepared to meet. Only once 
in a while do we find a school superintendent who is familiar with 
the studies which specialists have made along this line. In the 
ordinary dwelling only two or three people are in one room at a 
time, and these are usually moving about. If cold, they can move 
to the fire or radiator; if the day is dark, they can move near the 
window; if the sun shines brightly on their work, they can move 
away; if they become fatigued, they can change seats, move 
around, open a window, or go out for fresh air. The people in a 
crowded church or hall usually remain only an hour or two, and 
are not kept still and at hard mental work during this period. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 51 

In the school, on the contrary, each room must contain from 
thirty to sixty children for five hours a day; no one can move 
about at will; the boy farthest from the fire must be kept com- 
fortable without overheating the boy next to the stove; every 
corner of the room must be lighted well on even the darkest day, 
and yet no direct sunlight must fall on any pupil's book; ten to 
twenty times the amout of fresh air needed in a dwelling room 
must be brought into a school room, and yet no child must be in 
a draft. Instead of half a dozen people coming in and going out, 
we have thirty to sixty young, active children from ail grades 
of society with all sorts of physical constitutions and minor dis- 
eases crowded together in one room where chalk dust is constantly 
flying, required to remain quiet on hard benches and constantly 
use their eyes, ears, and nervous system for five hours a day. 
These are difficulties which the average school board does not 
notice, and the average architect does not appreciate. Until re- 
cently our most expensive school buildings have been built without 
expert advice from any school hygienist. The frightful increase 
of eye troubles, of nervous troubles, of digestive troubles, and of 
catarrh, as we go up the grades in our schools, and the lassitude 
and poor work found in these schools, are in a large measure due 
to this lack of proper hygienic consideration in planning the school 
houses and the school grounds. 

REGULATIONS GOVERNING CONSTRUCTION OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN 
THIS AND OTHER COUNTRIES. 

There is now going on a great reform in this line. Kansas 
City, St. Louis, Boston, New York, and other progressive cities 
have experts to examine all school plans. In Belgium all school 
plans must now be examined and approved by the Bureau d' Hy- 
giene with regard to location, construction, lighting, heating, venti- 
lation, drainage, closets, etc. In Germany all plans for school 
buildings or changes in old buildings must be approved by the dis- 
trict doctor. In Vienna the site must be approved by the doctor 
and the plans by a commission composed of skilled teachers, tech- 
nical men, and medical men. In France, and in parts of England, 
the plans for school buildings must conform to certain hygienic 
and sanitary requirements fixed by law. Massachusetts, Vermont, 



52 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

Connecticut, New York, Kentucky, and other States, have legal 
requirements as to ventilation or sanitation or playgrounds. 

IMPORTANT POINTS TO CONSIDER IN PLANNING A SCHOOL BUILDING. 

A conveniently arranged, properly lighted, ventilated, and 
heated school building, with artistic exterior costs little, if any, 
more than an unhygienic inconvenient building with an exterior 
made vulgar by shoddy tin ornaments and gingerbread work. 
There is no reason why the rural schools of Texas should not be 
as perfect models of hygienic construction and of artistic exterior 
as those of New York City or of St. Louis. It is primarily a mat- 
ter of intelligence and not of money. 

A full discussion of the most important points involved can be 
found in the University Bulletin on School Buildings, but here 
we will try to indicate, without giving reasons, a few of the most 
vital matters to be considered in planning a school building. 

Lighting. 

1. Never under any circumstances allow light to enter from 
windows in front of pupils, no matter whether high or low win- 
dows. 

2. Always have the main light come from the left of the pupils. 

3. A few windows at the rear of pupils are good for ventila- 
tion and not injurious for lighting, but a strong light behind is 
bad for teacher and pupils. 

4. Windows to the right of the pupils are injurious to the 
eyes. If there must be an opening on the right for ventilation, 
then have small half windows high up, coming not lower than 
the top of the blackboard. 

5. All windows should extend to within six inches of the 
ceiling, this six inches to be taken up by the window frame. If the 
architect tells you he can't do this, turn him off at once — he is too 
ignorant to be at large. 

6. Do not scatter the windows evenly along the left wall of 
the school room with three or four feet of wall between each pair, 
but place all these windows in a group with the narrowest possible 
mullion in between. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 53 

7. A 7- foot window with 2-foot transom above (transom hinged 
at bottom to swing in at top), is ideal for a school room. 

8. Allow at least one square foot of window space to every six 
square feet of floor space in a room ; one to four is really better. 

9. Never use pointed or curved top windows for lighting a 
school room. 

10. Provide all windows with roller shades, arranged to roll 
up from the bottom of the window to the top, instead of down 
from the top to the bottom, as is usually done. 

Heating and Ventilating. 

1. All heating systems should at the same time furnish means 
of ventilating the room in cold weather without exposing children 
to drafts of cold air. 

2. In buildings of four or more rooms, a central heating sys- 
tem should always be put in. It need not cost over two hundred 
dollars, and will soon save its original cost in fuel economy, to say 
nothing of the greater convenience and comfort of such a svstem. 
These central heating systems work perfectly in hundreds of build- 
ings in Texas, but I have found nearly as many that were total 
failures, due to the fact that they were not properly installed. 
Always require your architect to submit his heating plans to an 
expert on heating before the plant is installed. Consult, also, the 
University Bulletin on School Buildings, pages 26-38. 

3. In one-room buildings always put a jacket around the stove, 
or buy a jacketed stove,* which admits constantly into the room 
a column of fresh air that passes first over the stove and is warmed 
before reaching the pupils. The accompanying cuts show how 
such jacketed stove works. For full description see Bulletin on 
School Buildings, pages 28 to 32. Any ordinary tinner can make 
any ordinarv stove into a ventilating heater at slight cost. 

School Boom*. 

1. The school room should have 13^ feet pitch. 

2. The school room should provide at least 16 square feet 
of floor space per pupil. 



*The Grossius Ventilating Heater is a very satisfactory one. 



54 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 




Cut No. 12. Showing the improved circulation produced by the jacketed 
stove with fresh air admitted through a sliding door in the floor under- 
neath the stove aoid passing up between the stove and the jacket. The 
hot air rises and produces a pressure in the room, forcing out the cold, 
bad air through the vent flue shown in the cut near the floor and just 
behind the stove. "The circulation is further helped by extending the 
stove pipe into the vent flue, running it on up inside this flue to the top 
of the house. As soon as this pipe becomes heated from the stove, it 
heats the surorunding air in the flue, which rises and thus starts a suction 
in the flue and helps to draw out the cold air from the room below. The 
arrows indicate the direction of the currents of air in the room. 




Cut No. 13. Showing cross-section of ventilating flue 24x24 inches, 
with six-inch pipe passing up the middle of it. This pipe, within the 
flue, should, of course, be built of extremely heavy galvanized iron, so as 
to avoid early rusting. If this can not be secured, then the smoke flue 
must be built on one side of the vent flue with only a thin brick partition 
between the two. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



55 



3. Floors should be made of special selected rift sawed hard 
pine and should have rubbed into them two coats of ooiling lin- 
seed oil, into each gallon of which a pound of paraffine has been 
dissolved. 

4. Twenty- four or five by thirty or thirty-one feet are standard 
sized rooms for elementary schools where forty-two pupils are in 
the room. 

5. Use cement dado painted in place of wainscoting in both 
rooms and corridors. 




Cut No. 14. Interior of cloak 
room for elementary school. 
Courtesy of Chas. D. Hine, Sec- 
retary State Board of Education 
of Connecticut. 



Cut No. 15. Interior of cloak room 
for elementary school. From Shaw's 
School Hygiene. Courtesy of The 
Macmillan Co. 



CLOAK ROOMS AND STAIES. 



1. Always provide a cloak room not less than five feet wide 
adjoining each elementary class room. 

2. Never build inside unventilated cloak rooms, or rooms that 
ventilate only into the class room or corridor. Every cloak room 
should have one window giving ventilation from outside air. 



56 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

3. Every cloak room should have two doors, one opening into 
the corridor and one into the school room, but this entrance to the 
school room through the cloak room should never be the only en- 
trance to the school room. 

4. The accompanying cut gives two desirable plans for interior 
of cloak rooms. For full particulars consult the Bulletin on School 
Buildings, pp. 13-14. 

5. All stairs should have not more than 6-inch rises with 11 or 
12-inch treads. 

6. Stairs should not usually be over 5 feet wide and should have 
railings on both sides small enough for children to hold by. 

7. Do not locate stairs near furnace or other possible source of 
fire. 

8. All walls surrounding stairs should be fireproof. 

9. Two separate flights of stairs on opposite sides of the build- 
ings should be provided. 

10. Always provide one landing at least 4 feet wide about mid- 
way each flight of stairs. 

11. Never have stairs where they are not well lighted. 

BUILDING PLANS. 

The following building plans are only suggestive : 
The direction in which a school must face and other local con- 
ditions and needs must always be considered. The cost of these 
buildings would be so different in different localities that we can 
not give accurate estimates here. We do not have, and can not fur- 
nish detailed plans and specifications for these buildings. For this 
an architect is needed. The usual fee of an architect is 1\ per cent 
far making plans and specifications and 1\ per cent for supervising 
construction. If the architect really knows his business, he richly 
earns his salary. The fee for planning a $6000 four-room brick 
building is only $150, and the fee for supervising construction is 
the same. The slightest economy or wisdom in arrangement of 
rooms would save many times the $150 fee. In construction, .the 
chances for shoddy work and shoddy material are so great that only 
an architect is competent to watch and pass on the work of a con- 
tractor and protect the school board. On account of the ignorance 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 57 

on the part of nearly all Texas architects of the principles of school 
hygiene and the special demands of school architecture, the writer 
has during the past year examined and criticised free of charge 
school buliding plans whenever requested to do so by school boards or 
school superintendents. As a result, there are now being built sev- 
eral school buildings in Texas incorporating the best principles of 
school architecture. In several cases, however, this labor has been 
in vain because the plans were not presented to him for criticism 
till after they had been practically adopted. As far as his other 
duties will permit, the writer will still be glad to help school boards 
and superintendents by examination and criticism of building 
plans, provided these are presented to him before it is too late to 
adopt such changes as he may show to be wise. 

Most districts make the mistake of first voting building bonds 
and then looking about for a building plan, only to find that the 
building which they actually need costs a few hundred or a few 
thousand more than the value of the bond issue. It would be much 
wiser to have careful plans and estimates prepared first, in order 
to find what it will cost to. build and equip such building as is 
actually needed, and then to vote bonds for this amount. 



58 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



Making the class room 25x31 feet and the other rooms in pro- 
portion, we have here a plan for forty-two children that for econ- 




omy, convenience, and hygiene can hardly be excelled, provided 
the building can be built to face north. For a west face, it would 
be fairly satisfactory, but not at all so for an east or a south face, 



CLASS ROOM 



i. ^ 



Wafdrobz Po rcV, Wardrobe 

I 



C 



on account of the need of southern and eastern breezes in Texas. 
For plans suited to other facings, see Bulletin on School Buildings. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



59 




.- ,--j 



This building is especially adapted to a west facing or north 
facing. The belfry certainly is not ornamental and, unless posi- 
tively needed, should be omitted. 



60 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



Each of these plans is adapted to one-story or two-story con- 
struction, furnishing three large and one small room on each floor. 




I — i 



I CLA«5v5 ROOM 


1 
© 


or — 

© 

CL.A36 ROOmT 



CIoclU Rooctj 



Cloa.k Roort) 




The square plan reaches the limit of economy without sacrificing 
convenience or hygienic construction. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



61 



This plan, with second floor a duplicate of the first, can not be 
surpassed for economy or convenience. The lighting is also per- 
fect. A rolling, or folding hinged door, partition between the 
two rooms on the first floor would provide a fairly good auditorium 
for public occasions. When this is done, the desks in one of the 




rooms should not be screwed to the floor, but the rows of desks 
screwed to two long boards, 1^x4, and made in sections of ten 
or twelve feet, which may be easily handled and changed. These 
boards need not be screwed to the floor at all, or only very lightly 
s\t each end. 



62 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 




This plan may be used satisfactorily for an eight-room, two- 
story building with an auditorium provided on first or second 
floor by a folding or rolling partition. Four basement rooms added 
for manual or domestic training will make this an admirable 
twelve-room county hierh school and consolidated rural school com- 
bined. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



63 




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SUPPLEMENT 



CONSOLIDATION IN TEXAS DURING THE 
PAST THREE YEARS 

BY 

A. CASWELL ELLIS 

During the past winter a questionaire was sent to each county 
superintendent of public instruction and each ex-ofhcio county su- 
perintendent in the State, requesting data concerning the number 
and variety of schools in his county and concerning the number of 
cases of consolidation which had taken place during the three 
years that have passed since the first edition of this Bulletin on 
Consolidation was issued. Of the forty-two counties which at that 
time had superintendents, thirty-nine replied promptly. No reply 
could ever be gotten from Superintendents Brown, of Hill county; 
Barcus, of McLennan county, and Lomax, of Bobertson county, 
although two or three requests were mailed to each. Many of the 
superintendents were new in office, and could not give accurate 
records of consolidations of schools even during the past three 
years. Others understood that only white schools were to be con- 
sidered, and omitted the negro schools from the list. The returns, 
therefore, are not complete nor absolutely accurate even for the 
counties having superintendents. The number of consolidations is 
probably greater than it shown. 

In the thirty-nine counties having county superintendents who 
would answer my letters, there were reported as follows: 

Schools having one teacher 2,668 

Schools having two teachers 406 

Schools having three teachers 82 

Schools having four or more teachers 26 

No independent districts are included in the above. 

Cases of consolidation during the last three years of two schools. 88 
Cases of consolidation during the last three years of three schools. 9 
Cases of consolidation during the last three years of four or more 
schools 3 



66 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

Eeplies were also received from 116 county judges, reporting for 
their counties, as follows: 

Schools having one teacher 3,005 

Schools having two teachers 358 

Schools having three teachers 59 

Schools having four or more teachers 44 

No independent districts are included in the above. 

Cases of consolidation during the last three years of two schools . 59 
Cases of consolidation during the last three years of three schools. 6 
Cases of consolidation during the last three years of four or more 
schools 

It would thus seem that just one hundred consolidated rural 
schools have been established in the 39 counties having superin- 
tendents who reported, and 65 have been established in the 115 
counties having county judges who reported. We have here re- 
ported nearly six thousand one-teacher schools. There are prob- 
ably seven thousand or more such schools in our State. Our record 
shows that at least 351 such schools have consolidated during the 
past three years. 

In my questionaire, each superintendent and judge was asked 
to state why more consolidation had not taken place. The answers 
to this question were quite uniform: First. Great distances in 
sparsely settled communities; second, bad roads; third, ignorance 
of the possibility and of the advantages of consolidation; fourth, 
legal difficulties. 

One superintendent writes : "The schools in this county are too 
far apart, the distance varying from 12 to 50 miles. I travel over 
1500 miles with ambulance in visiting. This county has nearly 
150 miles river frontage and varies from 40 to nearly 80 miles 
wide." Such difficulties can, of course, be removed only by time. 
But probably two-thirds of the schools in the State are under no 
such handicap. 

The following expressions, selected as representative from the 
replies of the superintendents, seem to me suggestive: 

"The low tax limit for building houses prevents consolidation." 
This is undoubtedly a serious obstacle, but will be remedied by 
passing the amendment to the Constitution which is to be voted 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 67 

on in November, 1908, and also by helping the Governor in his 
efforts to enforce the full rendition tax law. 

"I am of the opinion that the community system and the want 
of proper supervision have been the principal causes preventing 
consolidation." One county judge writes: "I am doing what I 
can, but what can I do with eighteen weeks of the year given to 
holding court, with lunatics, paupers, roads, county convicts to 
look after, with duties as county purchasing agent and other duties 
galore ?" Another judge replied : "I suppose you have reference to 
consolidation of school work, and the only way to bring this about 
successively is to associate your teachers together in institute work." 
Needless to say, consolidation of schools is not progressing very 
rapidly in this last county. 

The community system was practically abolished by the last 
Legislature and this obstacle removed. The new law also passed 
requiring a county superintendent of public instruction in each 
county having 3000 scholastic population, now assures to 104 coun- 
ties of the State a superintendent whose sole duty is the super- 
vision of the common schools. While these superintendents are 
in the main men of high character and successful experience as 
teachers, they are, with few exceptions, almost wholly uninformed 
with regard to the details of their work as superintendents, and 
of the broader problems and possibilities of their positions. They 
recognize this need themselves and are making most commendable 
efforts to inform themselves and broaden their views through the 
County Superintendents Institute of the State, which they have 
already formed. The first meeting of this body was largely at- 
tended, and the papers and discussions showed thought and earn- 
estness. This organization should bring a new life into the schools 
of Texas. But the State should not depend entirely upon volun- 
tary efforts at qualification for the office after the election. The 
State should require a special examination for all who desire to 
become eligible to election as county superintendents. This should 
cover, in addition to first grade subjects, examination on such sub- 
jects as these: 1, School Buildings and Equipment; 2, Methods 
of teaching and equipping for Agricultural and School Gardens; 
3, Methods of teaching, and the proper equipment for, Manual 
Training and Domestic Economy; 4, The County and State Or- 
ganization and Administration of Schools, including study of what 



68 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

is done in other States and countries, in organization, in districting 
and consolidation, in methods of selecting teachers, in organization 
of courses of study, in inspection of schools, etc., etc. The chief 
difficulty in requiring such an examination is the lack of any text- 
books or of any schools in the State through which a candidate 
could prepare for such an examination. The Legislature could and 
should provide means for the preparation of such needed books as 
Bulletins by the State Department of Education, and should pro- 
vide for a full special course for county superintendents in the 
University Summer School. This simple but very valuable pro- 
vision of requiring an eligibility examination for candidates for 
county superintendent would also incidentally go a long way toward 
"taking the office out of politics." 

Two superintendents state that if the course of study in one- 
teacher schools were not allowed to cover all grades of pupils, that 
this would both give immediate impulse to the movement for con- 
solidation, and would vastly improve the one-teacher schools that 
remain. This suggestion seems worthy of most serious consider- 
ation. 

Two superintendents suggest that the standard required of teach- 
ers be raised higher, so that small school which could not afford to 
employ a good teacher, and were not alolwed to employ a poor one, 
would be compelled to consolidate. 

Two others believe that the county superintendent should be 
given authority to discontinue small schools and consolidate at his 
discretion. 

One judge thinks that the unit of administration should be the 
justice's precinct, and that the independent and common schools 
should all be under one and the same management. Another judge 
urges the establishment of the county unit system, as follows : "Is 
there any good reason why a county system should not be a unit 
like a city system, with one superintendent, one school board desig- 
nating how many schools there shall be and where located, one 
county tax, teachers elected on recommendation of the superintend- 
ent and assigned to schools by him ? There are districts two small 
for good schools that will never be changed by the vote of patrons. 
There are districts that will never levy special local tax. How 
can he earn this money paid him 'confering with teachers and trus- 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 69 

tees/ 'visiting and examining schools/ 'advising/ and 'delivering 
lectures' ?" 

Two judges seem a bit pessimistic. One says: "Kill off about 
.every third man and supply his place with one who thinks as much 
of his children as he does of his hogs, cattle and few bales of cot- 
ton. There are men who would be more than satisfied on the 
school question if they could have near their door a hen coop made 
of clapboards rived from a cottonwood log, provided there is painted 
somewhere on it the words, 'Skool House' — their imaginations 
readily supplying every necessary." The other says: "Parents 
are interested but little in education, being interested more in a 
bale-to-the-acre and 10-cent cotton. In my opinion, the only thing 
that can be done for consolidation of schools is to educate the boys 
and girls to the idea, wait until the present generation of parents 
dies and then consolidate." 

The great majority of superintendents and judges are hopeful, 
and assert that the real obstacle in the way of consolidation is 
merely ignorance, and that the one primary necessity is a campaign 
of education among the patrons. One superintendent who reports 
nine consolidations in his county says : "Educate the people. Let 
them know that we are not doing for the children of Texas as 
much as other States are doing for their children. Men are will- 
ing to make sacrifices for their children if they but see the neces- 
sity for it." Another writes: "I believe the consolidation will 
come as soon as the patrons can understand the advantages to be 
gained by it." Others write as follows: "Lack of intelligent agita- 
tion in which the advantages of consolidation are clearly set forth." 
"As far as I know, it hasn't been discussed to any extent. The peo- 
ple need to realize the comparative value of large schools and small 
ones." "Our people do not appreciate the importance of consoli- 
dation, nor do they fully understand how it is to be accomplished." 
"The people must themselves be brought to understand the advan- 
tages of consolidation." 

It was noticeable that those who spoke most hopefully of the 
value of a direct campaign with the patrons for education and con- 
solidation are the very ones who by their numerous reported con- 
solidations show that they have tried this plan, have succeeded, and 
know what they are talking about. Those who think legislative 
remedies are the primary hope, are, as a rule, those who report 



70 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

little or no successful work in their own counties. Undoubtedly 
there are legislative hindrances which should be removed, and most 
of them will soon be removed, but the one great cause of delay in 
consolidating the present inefficient little country schools is igno- 
rance on the part of patrons of the advantages to be derived from 
consolidation, and ignorance and incompetence on the part of 
county superintendents and county judges. The one great need is 
truly a campaign of education and for education. As a help iD 
this campaign, the University offers this Bulletin. As long as the 
supply lasts, any superintendent desiring to carry on a campaign 
for consolidation of schools can secure a supply for free distribu- 
tion free upon application. 



THE HORNSBY-DUNLAP CONSOLITATED SCHOOL IN 
TRAVIS COUNTY. 



By Cakl Hartman, County Superintendent, Travis County. 



For years the Hornsby School and the Dunlap School, situated 
three and one-half miles apart on the Austin- Webberville road, had 
been jogging along at a peaceful gait. The schools were as good 
as other country schools; perhaps a little better than the average 
one-teacher school generally gets to be. 

But conditions were not what they ought to have been. The 
patrons of both schools saw that their children were losing valu- 
able time under the one-teacher plan of management, and some 
were sending their children to town schools at an enormous cost. 
Furthermore, even those who could afford to send their children 
off to school were not slow in recognizing the wholesome influence 
of home and country environment at the impressionable age of 
childhood and the consequent advantages of educating their chil- 
dren "right at home." 

Late in the summer of 1905 the present county superintendent 
received a letter from Mrs. A. I. McEachern inquiring as to the 
manner of procedure to secure a new schoolhouse in place of the 
old and nearly worn-out Dunlap Schoolhouse Xo. 33. In reply 
the good lady was advised not to agitate the building of a new 
Dunlap Schoolhouse, but a new Hornsby-Dunlap Consolidated 
Schoolhouse on midway ground between the two. As to the man- 
ner of procedure, the organization of a Mother's Club was recom- 
mended for waging the campaign. And right skillfully did the 
ladies manage affairs, for when the first public meeting was called 
at the Dunlap School in the winter of 1905-06 the men had al- 
ready been- converted to the idea of consolidation, and it was only 
necessary to perfect the modus operandi. 

The petition circulated in the two districts contained sixty-nine 
names, of which sixty-eight signed "for consolidation," and only 
one signed "against consolidation." The commissioners court 



72 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



passed the order to consolidate early in 1906. Messrs. W. M. Jones. 
H. T. Bowman and J. M. Hornsby were appointed to be the first 
trustees. A local tax of 10 cents on the $100 valuation was also 
voted for incidental expenses. 

After these preliminaries had been arranged the work for the 
trustees had only begun. "Talk is cheap, but it takes money to 
build a schoolhouse." The people, however, were interested, and 
the three trustees appointed were the best in the State — sensible, 
business-like, honorable, self-sacrificing and devoted to a purpose. 
As a result, after two weeks' solicitation, several thousand dollars 




had been subscribed, all of which was contributed by the residents 
of the district. 

The grounds selected for the school site lies on the former dis- 
trict line, thus occupying a central location, and were donated to 
the district by Mr. and Mrs. Will Bowman. A primeval postoak 
forest held the grounds, and the trees had merely to be thinned 
out to make a beautiful shady plot. Here stands the present three- 
room schoolhouse, by the roadside, well-lighted and ventilated, and 
well furnished, a pride to every man, woman and child who has a 
dollar in it. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 73 

The school was a success over the old plan from the first, as seen 
from testimonials given below. It was graded and the teachers' 
work was satisfactory. Further improvements will be made, for 
the Hornsby-Dunlap citizens say, with one accord, "Onward, ever 
Onward." 

VIEWS OF THE PATRONS AFTER ONE YEAR OF CONSOLIDATION. 

I think that the present plan of managing and conducting our 
school is a great improvement over the old method. 

W. M. Eobertson. 

This is to certify that I am pleased with the manner in which 



4 ^ s&&£tk$ _ 


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in 








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the school has been conducted, and that I heartily endorse the con- 
solidation idea. R. E. Lee. 

I think the consolidated school has superior advantages over the 
old one. Mrs. W. M. Jones. 

I am very well satisfied with the consolidated school and think 
that it is better than the one before, because it gives us more 
teachers and a better opportunity for the pupil. 

J. W. Burleson. 

We are very much pleased with our consolidated school. The 

first term was better than we anticipated. It is much better than 

one teacher with a crowded school. 

Mrs. A. I. McEachern. 



74 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



I think the school has been superior to any school we have ever 
had and has been a success. A. Fonvill. 

I consider the new plan a great improvement over the old. The 
teachers have more time to instruct, the classes are larger and the 
interest greater than is possible in the one-room school. I am 
highly pleased with the success of the school under the present 
management. . Jesse Hornsby. 

I think the present consolidated school is far superior to the 
one-room school in many respects. It is evident that it does give 
the children in the country equal advantages in many respects to 
the high school in the city; therefore, I certainly endorse the con- 
solidated school. J. T. Flow. 




There is no comparison between the two plans, the present plan 
is so superior to the old one. Mollie L. Platt. 

I am well pleased with the school and heartily endorse the man- 
agement for the past term. I think it a great improvement over 
the old plan. Pleasant Lee. 

The present plan has many advantages over the old one. Among 
them I would mention better organization, greater interest, and a 
longer term. In my opinion, consolidation is a great success. 

E. A. HORNSBY. 

I am well pleased with the new plan. I think it is a success and 
that it has many advantages over the one-teacher plan. 

Paul Eowe. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 75 

I think the consolidation of the Hornsby and Dunlap schools 
will be the means of better educational advantages for our chil- 
dren. Mrs. J. M. Hornsby. 

I am in hearty accord with the idea of the consolidated school. 
With it we have the advantages of a graded school in the country — 
a graded school adapted to country conditions. It is far superior 
to the one-room, one-teacher school. August Foster. 

The year just passed was the first of our consolidated school, and 
I am more convinced that consolidation is far best for the country 
schools when possible. The year that has just closed has proven 
to be the best in the history of our school. H. T. Bowman. 

The consolidated school is far better than the old, as it enables 
the communities to work together with the teachers and children, 
systematize matters, grade the children as they should be, and let 
them progress, instead of losing two or three months each year. 

John R. Hunter, M. D. 

I think the present school much better than the old ones. 

E. H. Williams. 

We find many advantages in the consolidated school. Among 
them I would mention better grading, greater interest on the part 
of pupils and patrons, better attendance, and more thorough in- 
struction. The whole community has been drawn closer together 
by the common interest. J. N". Littlepage. 



COURSE OF STUDY OF THE HORNSBY-DUNLAP CON- 
SOLIDATED SCHOOL. 



PEIMAEY DEPAETMENT. 

FIRST GRADE — LOW DIVISION. 

Reading. — Wheeler's Primer. Words and sentences taught from 
chart and blackboard. Meaning pf words taught by use of objects 
and pictures. Give careful attention to position. Drill in articu- 
lation. Supplemental reading. Glimpses of Nature, etc. 

Spelling. — Words from reading lesson copied from blackboard 
and chart. Oral drills after the first few weeks. 



76 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

Language. — Objects and pictures described, stories read or nar- 
rated by teacher told by pupils. Memory gems. 

Numbers. — Daily oral lesson with objects. Develop the ideas 
of number, addition and subtraction. Drill in easy combinations 
according to ability of pupils. 

Writing and Drawing. — As directed. 

General Lessons. — Color, form, plants, etc. 

Music and Physical Exercises. — Simple songs and exercises as 
directed by the teacher. 

FIRST GRADE — HIGH DIVISION. 

Reading. — Graded classics, Book I. Continue use of chart and 
blackboard as in lower division. Give careful attention to position 
and articulation. Vocal drills and breathing exercises. Easy 
sight reading. 

Spelling. — Words of other lessons copied as in lower division. 
Frequent oral drills. Train to correct spelling from the beginning. 

Language. — Continue methods of lower division. Make every 
recitation an exercise in language. Pupils use complete sentences. 
Train to the use of capital letters, beginning sentences and proper 
names, and the period at close of sentence. Drill in reproducing 
short stories orally and in writing. Suitable memory gems add 
interest, train the memory and form an early taste for literature. 

Number. — Daily lessons with objects continued. Develop ideas 
of multiplication and division. Easy problems with concrete num- 
bers, oral and written. 

Writing and Drawing. — As directed. 

General Lessons. — Nature study, form, color, etc. 

Music and Physical Exercises. — As in lower division. 

SECOND GRADE. 

Reading. — Graded Classics, Book II, supplemented by the Heath 
Second Eeader and other supplemental work to be selected. 

Spelling. — Words from reading and other lessons, written and 
spelled orally. First fifty lessons from Spelling Book. Drill on 
diacritical marks. 

Language. — Continue work as in first grade. Pupils reproduce 
orally and in writing stories and parts of reading lesson; describe 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 77 

pictures or objects, and commit to memory selections assigned by 
the teacher. Much care should be given to the written work. 
Train to neatness and accuracy. 

Numbers. — Oral work continued. Written work supplied by 
teacher. Simpler weights and measures taught objectively. 

Writing and Drawing. — As directed. 

General Lessons. — Nature study, manners and morals, kindness 
to animals, health lessons, home geography, etc. 

Music and Physical Exercises. — As in preceding grade. 

THIRD GRADE. 

Reading. — Graded Classics, Book I, supplemented by Heath 
Eeader, history stories, and other selected supplemental work. 
Selections memorized. Pupils may be taught to use the diction- 
ary the latter half of the year. 

Spelling. — Modern Spelling Book, lessons 51 to 180. Oral and 
written work. Drill in elementary sounds. 

Language. — Hyde's Practical Lessons, Parts I and II. Memory 
gems. Frequent easy exercises in written composition. 

Numbers. — Lower Book to page 80. Mental arithmetic to page 
27. A great deal of supplemental work given by the teacher. Use 
easy numbers and drill to secure accuracy, neatness, and rapidity. 

Geography. — Matter included in first thirty pages of Maury's 
Elemntary. These lessons may be given orally, using objects, 
maps, charts, and blackboard. See State Course of Study, pages 
30 and 31. 

Writing and Drawing. — As directed. 

General Lessons. — Agricultural nature study, Morals and Man- 
ners, health lessons, etc. 

Music and Physical Exercises. — As in preceding grades. 



INTERMEDIATE DEPARTMENT. 

FOURTH GRADE. 

Reading. — Stickney's Fourth Reader, supplemented by stories 
from history, Elements of Agriculture, selected classics, etc. 
Choice selections memorized. Each pupil must have a dictionary 
and use it in learning the meaning and pronunciation of words. 



78 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

Spelling. — Modern Spelling Book, Part First, completed and 
reviewed. Teacher should study carefully all that is given on the 
subject in the State Course of Study. 

Language. — Hyde's Practical Lessons completed. Frequent ex- 
ercises in composition. Some good material is found in Elements 
of Agriculture. Teacher will supply other interesting subjects. 

Arithmetic. — Lower Book to page 162. Mental Arithmetic to 
page 50. Supplemental work given by teacher. Give practical 
problems and train to accuracy, neatness and rapidity. 

Geography. — Maury's Elementary completed. See State Course 
of Study, pages 39 to 41. 

Writing and Drawing. — As directed. 

FIFTH GRADE. 

Reading. — Stickney's Fifth Eeader, supplemented by The Young 
Citizen, history stories, and selected classics. Selections memor- 
ized. 

History. — Beginner's History of the United States. 

Spelling. — Modern Spelling Book to page 118. 

Grammar. — Hyde's Practical to Part III. Frequent exercises 
in composition. 

Arithmetic. — Lower Book completed. Mental Arithmetic to 
page 80. Practical problems not found in book. Pupils drilled 
to work rapidly with neatnes and accuracy. 

Geography. — Maury's Manual to South America. 
t Physiology. — Coleman Physiology for Beginners. May alter- 
nate with Agriculture, 4th and 5th grades. 

Writing and Drawing. — As directed. 

Agriculture. — As directed. 

SIXTH GRADE. 

Reading. — Fifth or Sixth Eeader. Text to be chosen. Selected 
classics. 

History. — Pennybacker's Texas History. 

Spelling. — Modern Spelling Book completed. 

Grammar. — Hyde's Practical Exercises in Composition. 

Arithmetic. — Higher Book to page 122. Mental Arithmetic to 
page 103. 

Geography. — Maury's Manual to Asia. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 79 

Physiology. — Conn's Elementary Physiology and Hygiene. 
Agriculture. — May alternate with physiology. 
Writing and Drawing. — As directed. 



ADVANCED DEPARTMENT. 

SEVENTH GRADE. 

Reading. — Selections from literature. Shoice selections mem- 
orized. Current Evente. 

U. S. History. — Our Country. 

Grammar. — Sisk's Grammar as a Science. 

Composition. — Welsh's English Composition with supplemental 
work. 

Arithmetic. — Higher to page 224. Mental Arithmetic to page 
183. 

Algebra. — Well's Essentials to page 183. 

Geography. — Maury's Manual or Maury's Physical. 

Agriculture. — Agriculture for Beginners, Burket, Stevens and 
Hill. 

Writing and Drawing. — As directed. 

EIGHTH GRADE. 

Literature. — Selected classics. 
U. S. History. — Our Country completed. 
Civil Government. — Texas and the Nation. 
Spelling. — As directed. 

Arithmetic. — Higher Book completed. Mental Arithmetic com- 
pleted. 

Algebra. — Well's Essentials to page 260. 
Physical Geography. — Maury's completed. 
Agriculture. — Agriculture for Beginners. 
Writing and Drawing. — As directed. 

NINTH GRADE. 

Literature and Composition. — Text to be selected. 
History. — Myer's General. 



80 The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

Spelling. — As directed. 

Mathematics. — Algebra, completed. Plane Geometry, Went- 
worth. 

Science. — Physics, Coleman. 

Agriculture. — As directed. 

Writing and Drawing. — As directed. 



THE BONO CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL IN JOHNSON 
COUNTY. 



The following account written by Superintendent H. J. Eidingj 
is taken from the Cleburne Enterprise: 

"Bono is a small village eight miles west of Cleburne on the 
Cleburne and Glenrose road. There are two stores, a blacksmith 
shop, a gin, two churches and a most enthusiastic school. 

"For several years the people of this and the adjoining districts 
have felt the need of a good school. So a few of the most zealous 
citizens brought the matter not only before their own community, 
but proposed to the people of the Belnap district to the west, and 
to those of the Harmony district on the north that they unite the 
three districts into one strong, efficient school community, build a 
good house and maintain such a course of study ass would give 
their boys and girls a fairly good education without sending them 
from home. 

"In a few weeks they had secured subscriptions to the amount 
of $5000, and at once let a contract for a house to cost that amount. 
Since, the building has been provided with seats, chapel organ and 
other necessary equipments at an additional cost of $1500, making 
the total cost of building and its furnishings $6500. Without a 
jar or seism all these expenses have been cheerfully met by the 
united communities. And through diligent inquiry I have not 
been able to learn of a man dissatisfied with the consolidation. 

"Prof. G. E. Warren is principal, Miss Mary Page has the in- 
termediate grades and Miss Anna Brown has the primary work. 
Each teacher has three grades of work. 

"I noticed in this school young men and young ladies who have 
not attended school for several years, and whose yearning for an 
education had almost ceased. Any parent interested in the edu- 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



81 



cational welfare of his child will be readily convinced of the ad- 
vantage of the well organized, graded school over the unorganized, 
ungraded school, by spending a few hours in the two kinds of 
schools, and comparing their work. 

"Will all the patrons of the country schools of this county, 
anxious to give your children educational opportunities, consider 
these comparisons? 

"1. That the present Bono school was formed by uniting three 
small districts into one strong, efficient district. 




The Bono Consolidated School, Johnson County. 



"2. That each of the houses of the three districts was poor, 
old and unattractive, and in their place is a large two-story, well- 
heated, properly ventilated, beautiful building. 

"3. That the three schools averaged about five months each 
during the year, with an irregular attendance of about 125 pupils 
for the three, whereas in the consolidated school the term is seven 
months, with an attendance of 175 pupils. 

"4. That the salaries of the three teachers of the three differ- 



82 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 




Old school buildings abandoned when these districts consolidated with 

the Bono district. 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 83 

ent schools was $130 per month, while the consolidated school it 
is $180 for the three teachers per month. 

"5. That in the three different schools each teacher taught seven 
grades, while in the consolidated school each teacher is teaching 
three grades. Which do you think, one man with the same team 
and tools could cltivate better 30 acres of cotton or 70 acres? 

"6. That some have to come further to school than before; 
instead of the attendance decreasing, it has increased. In the 
primary room where it seems that distance would most affect the 
attendance, I learned that the teacher of that department had en- 
rolled 74 pupils. Of the three grades in her room, over half were 
in the first grade. 

"These comparisons are conclusive that the centralized schools 
can do better work and are more satisfactory to the people when 
once established. 

"In the example just given of the Bono school, it is shown that 
the cost per capita is decreased, the school term is increased, and 
the school has a force of teachers at better salaries and with oppor- 
tunities to do better work. 

"Now I would not have you think that I believe all the schools 
of this county can be centralized so as to have $5000 school build- 
ings, but I do believe that a great many schools can be consoli- 
dated, that the pupils farthest away would not have to come more 
than two or two and one-half miles, and that such consolidations 
could build houses to cost from $1000 to $3000, support two or 
three teachers and have longer terms of school. With these larger 
schools, good comfortable buildings, two or three teachers-, well- 
arranged courses of study, all these things would combine to make 
a keen interest in the school at home. In my humble judgment it 
is the only way to save the country schools." 



84 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

CONSOLIDATION IN WALKER COUNTY. 




A typical school building in District No. 6, Walker county, before consolidation. 
These schools were taught by teachers holding second-grade certificates, and the 
attendance was'small. 




Back view of the school building in District No. 6, Walker Co., after consolidation 



The Consolidation of Rural Schools. 85 

This school now has four teachers with first-grade permanent 
certificates, four comfortable, well-lighted and well-furnished 
school rooms. It ministers to a district of approximately 
twenty-five square miles. There are several other cases of 
consolidation in Walker county, about which Superintendent S. 
C. Wilson writes, as follows : "There has never been a sin- 
gle case where schools have consolidated that the people did not, 
after a short time, become thoroughly converted and satisfied with 
the plan." 



THE SOUTH PARK CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL, JEFFER- 
SON COUNTY. 



The South Park and the Spindle Top school districts just out- 
side of Beaumont have both grown rapidly in recent years because 
of the oil discoveries. The South Park district was about eight 
miles long and three or four miles broad. In 1906-07 there was 
a white scholastic population of 350. Four teachers were employed. 
The district owned a two-room school building and rented rooms 
in a nearby store for two teachers. The Spindle Top school was 
established in the oil field in 1903, and in 1906-07 employed two 
teachers, who taught in two poor school rooms very unfavorably 
located. These two districts have now consolidated, voted $23,000 
school building bonds, have purchased a lot containing about six 
acres located on the shell road, are erecting a fine modern school 
building with eight rooms and an auditorium, will employ sis 
teachers, and offer a well-graded school with a nine-months' term. 
Wagonettes will be used to transport pupils who live at great dis- 
tance from the school. On account of the nearness of the Beau- 
mont High School, it was thought best to establish only eight 
grades of work in this school, and to form an affiliation with the 
Beaumont High School through which children completing the 
course of the South Park School are allowed to go on through the 
Beaumont High School course. [It was hoped that a cut of this 
fine building could be printed in this Bulletin, but thus far the 
editor has been unsuccessful in his attempts to secure a satis- 
factory picture. We are indebted to Superintendent M. L. Moody 
for the brief account which is given above.] 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS BULLETIN 

GENERAL SERIES 

1. The University of Texas Record, vol. v, no. 3, March, 1904. 

2. Alumni Notes. 13 p., March, 1904. 

3. Some Wholesome Educational Statistics, by W. S. Sutton. 12 p., 

illus. March, 1904. 10 cents. 

4. Courses of Study in Law Pursued in the University of Texas, by J. 

C. Townes. 16 p. March, 1904. Out of print. 

5. Notes Concerning the Progress of the University, by Wilson Williams, 

Registrar. 3 p., 1904. Out of print. 

6. The University of Texas Record, vol. v., no. 4, July, 1904. 

7. The Consolidation of Rural Schools, by Una Bedichek and G. T. Bas- 

kett. New edition, enlarged by A. C. Ellis. 85 p., illus. Nov., 
1907. 25 cents. 

8. The Pride of Texam and Their University, by T. H. Montgomery, Jr. 

5 p. November, 1904. Out of print. 

9. Letter to Alumni Regarding the Proposed Law School Building. 2 p. 

December, 1904. Out of print. 

10. Views of the University of Texas. 42 p., illus., n. d. 20 cents. 

11. What Should be Done by Universities to Foster the Professional Edu- 

cation of Teachers? by W. S. Sutton. 24 p. 1905. 15 cents. 

12. The University of Texas Record, vol. vi, no. 1, February, 1905. 

13. School Buildings, by A. C. Ellis and Hugo Kuehne. 119 p., illus. pi. 

June, 1905. 30 cents. 

14. *The University of Texas Record, vol. vi, no. 2, September, 1905. 

15. The Teaching of Agriculture in the Public Schools, by A. C. Ellis. 

56 p., illus. December, 1906. 25 cents. 

16. A Study in School Supervision, by Carl Hartman. 180 p. 1907. 50 

cents. 

HUMANISTIC SERIES 

1. The Trans-Isthmian Canal: a Study in American Diplomatic History 

(1825-1904), by C. H. Huberich. 31 p. March, 1904. 25 cents. 
Out of print. 

2. The Evolution of "Causa" in the Contractual Obligations of the Civil 

Law, by Samuel Peterson. 24 p. January, 1905. 25 cent3. Out 
of print. 

3. De Witt's Colony, by Ethel Z. Rather. 99 p., 4 map3. 1905. 35 cents. 

4. Some Fundamental Political Principles Applied to Municipal Govern- 

ment, by Samuel Peterson; and Evans University Prise Orationa, 
by A. D. Robertson, K. S. Dargan, Jr., Edward Crane, R. J. Chan- 
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5. The Grotesque in the Poetry of Robert Browning, by Lily B. Camp- 

bell. 41 p. April, 1907. 25 cents. 

*The Record is no longer issued in this series, but bears its volume and 
number, as heretofore. 



/ 



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THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS BULLETIN 

SCIENTIFIC SERIES 

1-4. Contributions from the Zoological Laboratory of The University 

of Texas. Reprints from various journals. 1904-05. Out of printi. 

Later contributions appear in the Reprint Series. 
Test of a Vertical Triple Expansion High-Duty Pumping Engine in 

Operation at the Water Works, San Antonio, Texas, by A. C. 

Scott. 52 p., illus. pi. June, 1905. 35 cents. 
Vegetation in the Sotol Country in Texas, by W. L. Bray. 24 p., pi. 

June, 1905. 25 cents. 
Observations on the Habits of Some Solitary Wasps of Texas, by Carl 

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The Protection of Our Native Birds, by T. H. Montgomery, Jr. 30 p. 

October, 1906. 25 cents. 
The Austin Electric Railway System, by members of the Senior Class 

in Electrical Engineering, 1906. 123 p., illus. pi. 1906. 50 cents. 
Distribution and Adaptaticv, of the Vegetation of Texas, by W. L. 

Bray, 108 p., pi. map. November, 1906. 35 cents. 
A Sketch of the Geology of the Chisos Country, ,by J. A. Udde». 

101 p. April, 1907. 50 cents. 

REPRINT SERIES 

A Semantic Study of the Indo-lranian Nasal Verbs, by E. W. Fay. 
From the American Journal of Philology, 25:369-389 and 26:172- 
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Contributions from the Zoological Laboratory of the University of 
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Latin, Creek, and Sanskrit Word Studies, by E. W. Fay. From va- 
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MEDICAL SERIES 



1. Yellow Fever: a Popular Lecture, by James Carroll. 32 p. June, 

1905. 15 cents. 

2. The Care of the Insane, by Dr. M. L. Graves. 16 p. 1905. 15 cents. 

3. The 1903 Epidemic of ellow Fever in Texas, and the Lesson to b« 

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In addition to the bulletins above named are the following: 

a. The Official Series, which includes catalogues, Regents' Reports, and 

administrative bulletins. 

b. About 25 bulletins issued before March, 1904, when the division into 

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c. The University of Texas Record, formerly, but no longer, included 

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in its 8th volume. A general index to the first six volumes may 
be found in volume 6. , 

Requests for Bulletins should be addressed to the University of Texas 
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